Moldova has received the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines under the global COVAX scheme the president said on Friday.
The batch of 14,400 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines arrived late Thursday, President Maia Sandu said on Twitter.
She wrote that Moldova was “the first European nation to receive the vaccines via the COVAX initiative,” thanking Germany, the EU, UK, U.S and Canada.
The global COVAX scheme supplies Covid vaccines to poorer countries, including Moldova and Ukraine.
Vaccines will be delivered to the National Public Health Agency, which has the necessary conditions for its storage.
The shipment came after Romania delivered 21,600 vaccines, the first batch of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 shots to Moldova, a former Soviet republic, last weekend.
The shots have enabled one of Europe’s poorest countries to
begin its vaccination campaign starting with medical professionals.
Moldova has struggled in the global scramble to gain access to vaccines and
welcomed donations for its 3.5 million people.
Moldova registered 191,197 coronavirus cases and 4,049 deaths as of March 4.
There were a record 1,800 new cases posted on Thursday and 23 Covid-19 patients died including a doctor.
In December, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis pledged Moldova 200,000 vaccine doses from its quota allotted by the European Union during a visit to Chisinau meant to support the country’s new pro-Western president.
Moldova, which is wedged between Ukraine and EU member state Romania, says it plans to receive enough free vaccines through the COVAX scheme to vaccinate 20% of its 3.5 million population.
It will then purchase vaccines through COVAX at a reduced price.
