U.S. to deliver over 500K Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses to Kosovo
The United States is set to deliver 503,100 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to the Republic of Kosovo this weekend. Vice President Kamala Harris delivered the news to Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu during a phone call Friday.
The doses, which are expected to arrive Saturday, will come through COVAX and are a substantial addition to the 35,000 doses the U.S. had already delivered in August.
In a readout of the call between Harris and Osmani-Sadriu, obtained exclusively by CBS News, the vice president also thanked Osmani-Sadriu for Kosovo's assistance in the evacuation efforts from Afghanistan and expressed her appreciation for the temporarily housing Kosovo has provided to vulnerable Afghans at Camp Bondsteel, in eastern Kosovo.
The donations come as the nation of roughly 1.7 million people has experienced a sharp rise in the number of COVID-19 cases. According to the World Health Organization, the country had 13,475 confirmed COVID-19 cases during the week of August 23 and has recorded 2,516 COVID-19 deaths between January 3, 2020 and September 2, 2021. Kosovo reportedly decided to destroy 133,000 expired AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines. To date, 808,078 vaccine doses have been administered in the country.
Last week during a trip to Vietnam, Harris also announced plans for the U.S. to send an additional 1 million Pfizer doses to the Southeast Asian country. In total, the U.S. has sent Vietnam 6 million doses.
"I know the Vietnamese people are facing a difficult time right now with COVID-19. We also know that early in the pandemic, Vietnam was generous in supporting the United States when we were in a time of need, with over 250,000 PPEs and masks being delivered to our country when we needed them." Harris said during remarks given in Hanoi. "So we are proud to reciprocate in a time of need, most recently with these 1 million Pfizer vaccines."
