Portugal has delivered the first shipment of 400,140 doses of BioNTech–Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to Armenia. Thanks to the joint work of the EU, Poland and Portugal, the EU was able to respond to a request from Armenia for COVID-19 vaccines and help the country continue tackling the coronavirus pandemic.
The delivery is part of a Team Europe Initiative for the Eastern Partnership, setting up an innovative EU-financed vaccine-sharing programme launched in December 2021, coordinated by Poland and to which Portugal promptly joined.
Today’s delivery is the first batch of vaccines delivered to Armenia under the new EU funded scheme, with a second one arriving in Armenia in April.
“We are happy that the vaccines reached Armenia, grateful to Portugal for their generous commitment and to Poland for their efforts in making this a reality. We continue to fight against COVID-19 together,” said the Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin, during the handover of the donation to the RA Ministry of Health.
“We are grateful to our partners for their solidarity in this period with measures to curb the pandemic. Armenia has already used more than 2 million vaccine doses; we have fully vaccinated more than 95,000 people. Armenia is doing everything to ensure the diversity of vaccines, and this donation is another step in ensuring their availability for people,” said Deputy Minister of Health of Armenia Lena Nanushyan.
The European Commission has in late December 2021 signed an agreement worth €35 million with the BGK, Polish Development Bank, to set up an innovative arrangement to support EU Member States in the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to the Eastern Partnership countries. The EU contribution is financed from the Neighborhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe (NDICI – Global Europe) and will run until June 2023 or until the EU contribution is exhausted.
The action complements major efforts by the EU to reduce the COVID-19 health impact by ensuring a rapid and safe deployment of COVID-19 vaccines and fostering structural changes in health systems. At the outset of the pandemic in early 2020, the EU-funded the provision of critical equipment and technical assistance through the World Health Organisation (WHO). Since February 2021, another EU-funded WHO programme supports Eastern Partnership countries with their vaccine absorption capacities by enhancing preparedness and deployment capabilities.
This innovative action is complementary to COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator: a global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.
By late February 2022, over 15 million vaccine doses were donated to Eastern Partnership partner countries via the EU Vaccine Sharing mechanism and through COVAX.
With a close to 3.5 billion, Team Europe is one of the lead contributors to COVAX, which remains the key global vehicle to ensure fair and equitable access to these vaccines.
