KUALA LUMPUR: The commitment by the United States to assist Malaysia in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic was further strengthened with the pledge to donate vaccine doses via the Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access (Covax).
The US Embassy in Malaysia said the additional assistance of Covid-19 vaccines to Malaysia and other Asian countries, amounting to seven million doses, was announced by US president Joe Biden recently.
This is on top of other donations that had been given by the embassy in Kuala Lumpur in March this year and earlier this month which ranged from personal protective equipment (PPE) and information technology equipment to the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma).
US ambassador to Malaysia Brian McFeeters said as Malaysia is experiencing serious difficulties due to Covid-19 at this moment, he and his team at the embassy wanted to help Malaysians in any way and it was their top priority.
"The US will also work with Covax to donate an additional 80 million vaccine doses for the global Covid-19 vaccine programme run by the Global Alliance Vaccination and Immunisation (Gavi) and the World Health Organisation.
"The US is the largest donor to Covax. As you all know, the US is pleased to donate seven million doses of Covid-19 to several Asian countries through Covax including Malaysia.
"Malaysia is a partner in supporting Covax and I was glad to see that Covax supported vaccines began arriving in Malaysia last month," he said in a video released today.
In his brief address delivered in Bahasa Malaysia, McFeeters also hoped Malaysians and their families would stay safe and healthy amid the pandemic.
McFeeters said the embassy had embarked on a two-part donation effort worth USD250,000 in March and on June 8 as part of its Covid-19 relief assistance to help Malaysia tackle the pandemic.
Earlier this month, he said the embassy delivered Covid-19 relief supplies to Nadma which included personal protective equipment like face masks, thermometers and sanitisers for frontliners.
They had also presented information technology equipment that Nadma could use to help frontliners respond against Covid-19 in the country.
Also present during the delivery was Nadma director-general Datuk Dr Aminuddin Hassim.
In a release by the US Embassy in Malaysia, it said the assistance was made possible through the Office of Defence Cooperation (ODC) at the US Embassy by the US Department of Defence, USINDOPACOM Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid (ODHACA) office.
Earlier in March, McFeeters and members of the ODC team visited the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) Covid-19 Quarantine and Low Risk treatment Centre (PKRC) to witness the delivery of the first part of the PPE donation to the Health Ministry.
The embassy said that the US military along with civilian partners had a shared commitment to working together to address humanitarian issues around the world.
Nadma, added the embassy, expressed its gratitude on behalf of the Malaysian government for the additional contribution from the United States via the ODC and the embassy.
"This contribution will be put to good use to assist our health frontliners in battling the third wave of Covid-19 spread that is currently ravaging our country.
"This generous gesture is testament of the US solidarity and strong bilateral ties with Malaysia," said Nadma.