The United States has provided more than 680,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Bhutan, including 51,480 doses from Pfizer in September, in partnership with the COVAX facility and the Bhutan Foundation.
Patricia Lacina, the US Chargé d’Affaires in New Delhi, visited Bhutan from September 26 to October 1 and met with the country’s Health Minister Dechen Wangmo to discuss cooperation bilateral on Covid-19 and congratulated her on the comprehensive efforts made by Thimphu to combat the pandemic.
Lacina also joined Agriculture and Forestry Minister Yeshey Penjor at a ceremonial event to commemorate the US-Bhutan partnership in health and the fight against the pandemic.
“Bhutan is a model in global health issues, a fact that the entire world recognizes. When the Covid pandemic struck, the government implemented a detailed plan to protect the country’s frontline health workers and safeguard its citizens ” Lacina said.
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“The United States is proud to have supported Bhutan in this remarkable achievement, through vaccines provided by the US government and other aid and through more than a decade of extensive health cooperation,” he said.
For more than a decade, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has collaborated with the Royal Center for Disease Control of the Bhutanese ministry of health to build capacity for surveillance of flu, pandemic preparedness and the introduction of the flu vaccine, which was leveraged for the Covid-19 response.
Since the pandemic began, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the CDC, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and other US agencies worked closely with Bhutan to strengthen preparedness and response in the pandemic
USAID also supported livelihood interventions for Bhutanese, focusing on women and youth, who experienced economic hardship during the pandemic.
Over the past 20 years, the US has provided $9 million in foreign aid to Bhutan. The US government has partnered with Bhutan to prioritize Covid-19 relief and support in livelihoods, clean energy, disaster resilience, forest management, biodiversity conservation, and security of the water
