By Pacific Island Times News Staff
The U.S government today announced an additional $1.9 million in financial assistance to help Pacific island countries manage the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The assistance, provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), was obligated to UNICEF Pacific headquartered in Fiji to support both emergency commodity and supply assistance to Fiji and vaccine technical assistance activities to countries throughout the Pacific.
“This additional funding to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic underscores our longstanding friendship and commitment to fight this unprecedented global health crisis together,” said Elise Tokumasu de Silva Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu.
This brings USAID’s total Covid assistance to almost $44 million in health, humanitarian assistance, and recovery efforts throughout the Pacific since the pandemic began.
This latest tranche of funding, provided through the American Rescue Plan Act, will support internationally recognized infection prevention and control strategies, laboratory systems and case management strengthening efforts, and risk communication interventions targeting Pacific communities with accurate information on Covid-19.
USAID is also contributing $4 billion to support COVAX — a global effort to provide safe and effective vaccines for 92 countries, including the Pacific Islands.
"Diseases know no borders. The United States is committed to partnering with Pacific island countries to end the Covid-19 pandemic, mitigate its devastating social and economic impacts, and build back a world that is even better prepared for future outbreaks," the U.S. Embassy in Fiji said in a statement.
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