On Friday, Papua New Guinea received more than 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Government of Netherlands to support the country’s COVID-19 response.
A small team comprising representatives from the PNG COVID-19 Vaccination Ministerial Task Force, the European Union representing the Government of Netherlands, WHO and UNICEF witnessed the arrival of 302,400 doses of Johnson and Johnson (J&J) vaccines that will be distributed across the country in the coming weeks to support the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive and will also help ensure that vaccines are readily available for everyone.
UNICEF facilitated the procurement of these vaccines through COVAX, a global partnership designed to make sure that safe and effective vaccines are available to as many people as quickly as possible.
COVAX is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and WHO – working in partnership with UNICEF as well as civil society organisations, vaccine manufacturers and others.
Papua New Guinea has received the following COVID-19 vaccines since April 2021:
• AstraZeneca doses donated by the Governments of Australia and New Zealand
• J&J doses donated by the US Government
• Sinopharm doses donated by the Government of China
To date, UNICEF has also supported the distribution of more than 350,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines, 287,000 doses of J&J vaccines and 46,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines across the country.
Additionally, through support provided by Gavi, UNICEF continues to support the rehabilitation of the cold chain system in hospitals and health facilities throughout the country for the safe storage of these vaccines.
