UNRC Ozonnia Ojielo's remarks at the handover ceremony of Pfizer vaccine

UN Resident Coordinator's Speech at the Vaccine Handover Ceremony

As the world is still struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN agencies and development partners take every opportunity to support the Government of Kyrgyzstan to bring vaccines in the country.

Today, the country received 259,740 doses of Pfizer vaccines and 111,600 doses of Sinopharm vaccines. These are new batches provided through the COVAX facility. Over the last weeks, UNICEF also brought ultra-cold chain equipment to be able to store the Pfizer vaccines at the right temperature and supported a training on how to use it. 

Globally, the COVAX initiative, led by the GAVI Alliance, WHO, CEPI and UNICEF, works with manufacturers and partners to procure COVID-19 vaccines, as well as transportation, logistics and storage.

The COVAX initiative is also an example of the unprecedented solidarity of the international community, aimed at providing access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries. The Pfizer vaccines which arrived today are donation of the US Government through COVAX. We acknowledge that and want to express here our gratitude to the people of the US.

Even though there is still no cure for COVID-19, the good news is that there are vaccines that are efficient as we have more and more evidence that COVID-19 vaccines can effectively protect us. Even with changes in the virus, vaccination greatly reduces the risk of hospitalization and death. Vaccines remain the safest, easiest and most cost-effective way of fighting life-threating and preventable diseases such as COVID-19.

Let me now address every woman and man in Kyrgyzstan. A variety of vaccines are now available to you through the public health system and in large quantity. Today it is your turn to take action and to get protected, not only for yourself but also to protect those close to you. Vaccination is critical to be able to get together again with our families, friends, and the people we love.

Unfortunately we see still that many citizens of Kyrgyzstan are not getting vaccinated, while we observe a new rise in COVID-19 cases over the last week. COVID-19 had devastating impact in many countries and we can still avoid such crisis if we take the opportunity that is offered to us today to get vaccinated.

In addition, we must continue to adopt safe practices that can slow down the spread of COVID-19: we must continue to wear masks, wash our hands regularly and practice physical distancing.

Together with partners, the UN agencies remain committed to support the Government of Kyrgyzstan in responding to the COVID pandemic by ensuring  availability and accessibility of vaccines, and  a safe and effective vaccination process in the country.