KUALA LUMPUR: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has donated 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Malaysia to combat the pandemic.
Expressing his gratitude, Senior Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the contribution would greatly assist in intensifying the daily vaccination rate of the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme (NIP).
"The Foreign Ministry welcomes the contribution of 1,000,000 doses of vaccine by the Government of UAE to Malaysia.
"On behalf of His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the Government of Malaysia, and the Malaysian people, I would like to express our sincerest gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Zayed Al-Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces; my counterpart, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah Zayed Al-Nahyan, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister.
"Also, the leadership of the UAE for the urgent and generous contribution which will aid our country in facing the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic," he said in a statement today.
Hishammuddin said this was not the first time the UAE has extended Covid-19 assistance to Malaysia.
"In March 2020, UAE contributed 20,000 PCR test kits, and in May 2020, another contribution of 7 tonnes of hand sanitisers was made specifically to Wisma Putra's own Malaysia's Diplomatic Equipment Stockpile (MDES) which was distributed to our 'diplomatic frontliners' serving in Malaysia and our missions abroad.
"This recent contribution, combined with the on-going cooperation between both nations in various other areas such as knowledge sharing and cooperation underscores the long-standing and brotherly ties between Malaysia and the UAE."
He added Malaysia and the UAE remain committed to strengthening our bilateral relationship, based on the firm foundation of common values and traditions between our two nations for mutual benefit.
Malaysia has so far received a million doses of vaccines and medical equipment from various countries since June.
This includes a million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and over 4.5 million units of medical supplies of various types from Saudi Arabia worth almost RM21.14mil (USD$5mil), 415,000 doses of AstraZeneca from the United Kingdom, one million of AstraZeneca from Japan, one million doses of Pfizer from the United States, 500,000 doses of Sinovac and RM1.7 million worth of ventilators and Rt-PCR test kits from Brunei to curb pandemic in Labuan, Sabah and Sarawak.