Press Release

Uzbekistan receives COVID-19 vaccine through COVAX Facility

17 March 2021

Today, the Republic of Uzbekistan has received 660,000 doses of COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine shipped via the COVAX Facility, a partnership between the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), GAVI, WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The 660,000 doses consignment is part of the COVAX allocation of 2,256,000 doses to Uzbekistan under the COVAX Facility, with the remainder being delivered in the coming few months.

“This is a historic step towards our goal to ensure equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines globally,” said Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Representative in Uzbekistan.“Equitable and fair access to vaccines is a key element in ending the pandemic, and we must ensure that vaccines are available for all.”

UNICEF has supported development of the national deployment plan in Uzbekistan and led-on the development of communication to arm against vaccine hesitancy, while WHO has provided assistance in adopting learning modules and conducting trainings for frontline health care workers as part of preparing Uzbekistan for the introduction of COVID 19 Vaccines.

“WHO listed AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the green light for its vaccine to be rolled out globally through COVAX. Uzbekistan is 49th country which will introduce AstraZeneca vaccine.” said Dr. Lianne Kuppens, WHO Representative in Uzbekistan.”Ensuring the quality, safety and efficacy of vaccines is one of WHO’s highest priorities: we are working closely with national authorities to ensure that global norms and standards are developed and implemented to assess the quality, safety and efficacy of vaccines.”

The COVAX Facility, which is a partnership between CEPI, GAVI, UNICEF and WHO has ensured 92 low to middle-income countries can access vaccines equitably. At least 1.3 billion doses will be made available to these countries.

The facility is supported by donors such as the United States of America, Germany, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, Canada, the European Commission, Japan and others.

The COVAX is the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are available worldwide to both higher-income and lower-income countries.