Azerbaijan continues global efforts in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
Recently, the country sent batches of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of the humanitarian aid in the fight against COVID-19.
On July 16, 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were delivered to Uzbekistan by Azerbaijan’s government delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev, as part of the global COVAX program. The vaccines were handed over to the Sanitary-Epidemiological Center and Public Health Center of Uzbekistan’s Health Ministry at the airport.
Moreover, on July 17, 40,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were delivered to Kyrgyzstan. The agreement on the provision of this humanitarian aid was reached during Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ruslan Kazakbaev’s visit to Azerbaijan on July 1-3.
Furthermore, on July 19, Azerbaijan Airlines delivered 40,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Bosnia and Herzegovina, while on July 20, national flag carrier Azerbaijan Airlines delivered 40,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Tajikistan.
Azerbaijan has made a significant contribution to the strengthening of solidarity and cooperation against coronavirus at a global level. As part of its cooperation in this sphere, Azerbaijan provided voluntary financial assistance to the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition to the funds allocated for the WHO, Azerbaijan has provided humanitarian and financial aid to over 30 countries to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The Azerbaijani government allocated $1.1bn from the 2020 budget to fight coronavirus infection.
Azerbaijan started vaccinating citizens using China’s Sinovac on January 18, Vaxzevria vaccine produced by AstraZeneca on May 3, Russia’s Sputnik V on May 18 and US-produced Pfizer on June 7. The country started offering COVID-19 vaccination to citizens aged over 18 from May 10. The nationwide vaccination is free and on a voluntary basis and is in line with the “Strategy of vaccination against COVID-19 in Azerbaijan for 2021-2022”.
Azerbaijan has registered 339,062 COVID-19 cases so far. Some 4,398,900 COVID-19 vaccines have been provided to the citizens to this date. The first dose of the vaccine was given to 2,597,118 citizens, and the second one to 1,801,782 citizens.