The United States congratulates Bosnia and Herzegovina on its $13-million investment in the health of B&H citizens by purchasing COVID-19 vaccines, the first doses of which arrived today in Sarajevo.

The shipment was made possible through the COVAX Facility, a global initiative to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and the B&H government’s investment to finance the purchase of the vaccines. The initial shipment includes 23,400 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which arrived this morning. A shipment of 26,400 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine is scheduled to arrive this evening.

-I’m pleased for the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina that the B&H government funded COVID-19 vaccines have arrived and can help stop the spread of the virus, which we’ve seen accelerating in recent weeks- said U.S. Ambassador Eric Nelson. -All countries need access to COVID-19 vaccines to stop the pandemic and we urge B&H Minister of Civil Affairs Ankica Gudeljević and the Council of Ministers to continue their work to bring and distribute vaccines here promptly.-

Globally, the United States has pledged an initial $2 billion—out of a total planned $4 billion— to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to support COVAX, making the U.S. the single largest contributor to global COVID-19 vaccine access.

The U.S. contributions to COVAX, through USAID, will support the purchase and delivery of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines for the world’s most vulnerable and at-risk populations in 92 low- and middle-income countries. This support is critical to controlling the pandemic, slowing the emergence of new variants, and helping to restart the global economy.