UN teams and partners are delivering COVID-19 vaccines and emergency supplies across the globe. Today, we highlight some of those efforts. 

COVID-19  

Afghanistan 

13 October - The UN in Afghanistan team, led by UN Resident Coordinator Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, continues to support the people of Afghanistan by providing COVID-19 vaccinations and other technical facilities through the COVAX mechanism. More than 750 thousand COVID-19 tests have been conducted through public and private laboratories, with support from the UN. While helping to raise awareness ON COVID-19 prevention for 6,000 people across agricultural markets in the country, FAO also provided treatments to 238,317 people, and provided protective equipment to more than 1,000.For its part, UNICEF facilitated vaccine delivery and distribution, while providing cold chain maintenance, protective equipment for COVID-19 centres and hospitals, and technical assistance.  

Cabo Verde 

20 October - The UN team in Cabo Verde has been supporting authorities to tackle the health and socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The team supported 160 health facilities, provided 66,000 students access to distance learning, supported 14,600 workers, distributed meals to 27,000 children, and provided more than 20,000 people access to emergency cash and food. WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, the World Bank, and other UN agencies are also providing strategic and technical support, including to the national vaccination campaign. Cabo Verde’s partner countries have donated over 700,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines via COVAX or bilaterally, ensuring a vaccination rate of nearly 80 per cent for a total population of 500,000. 

Iran                                                                            

21 October - Under the leadership of Resident Coordinator Stefan Priesner, the UN in Iran continues to support authorities’ response to the health, humanitarian, and socio-economic to COVID-19, focusing on the most vulnerable. This includes refugees and undocumented Afghans living in Iran, including thousands who have recently crossed the border.  Our team facilitated the delivery of more than 12 million vaccines doses from Italy, Germany, and Japan via COVAX. Austria, China, and Serbia also provided over 1 million vaccine doses. In the meantime, the UN continues to secure more vaccines, including a batch for Afghan refugees, while ensuring access to effective cold storage systems. 

Mongolia 

14 October - Our UN team in Mongolia, led by Resident Coordinator Tapan Mishra, continues to support the on-going national response to the COVID-19 pandemic on the health, humanitarian, and socioeconomic fronts. UNICEF facilitated the procurement of over 2.7 million vaccine doses through COVAX and other sources, contributing to the 5.4 million doses of vaccines available in the country.  To date, over 65 per cent of the population and 90 per cent of the target population have been fully vaccinated. UNICEF also supported authorities in strengthening cold chain capacity while working with WHO to provide provided protective, laboratory, and medical equipment, including more than 1 million masks and oxygen supplies. Teaming up with UNFPA, WHO also provided training to healthcare workers, while the UN in Mongolia trained journalists and is sharing messages to curb the spread of the disease. 

Pakistan 

5 October - Our UN in Pakistan team, working under the leadership of Resident Coordinator Julien Harneis, continues to work with local authorities to address the COVID-19 crisis. On health, UNICEF is working with health authorities to ensure continuity of essential primary care services in nearly 140 health facilities, reaching over 3.6 million people. UNICEF also trained nearly 12,000 frontline health workers, with 5,300, including community volunteers, receiving additional COVID-19-related training. Over 1,400 pediatricians were also trained to manage COVID-19 cases in children. The team also delivered 1,000 oxygen concentrators to nearly 290 health facilities, over five million face masks to vaccination centres, and gloves and hand sanitizer to over 18,000 frontline health workers across the country. With UN support, over 82 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, with nearly 30 million people fully vaccinated and twice as many partially. Existing vaccination programmes are also on-going with UN support, including measles immunization for more than 110,000 children. 

Papua New Guinea 

19 October - Our UN team in Papua New Guinea, led by acting Resident Coordinator Dirk Wagener, continues supporting authorities to respond to COVID-19, providing essential health supplies and boosting campaigns to support vaccine rollout while the country is facing a surge in the number of cases.  Around 10 per cent of the target population, received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including over 36,000 people who have received the single-dose version.  Just 5.7 per cent of the target population is currently fully vaccinated. WHO and UNICEF are working closely with the National Department of Health to get more people vaccinated, while combating vaccine misinformation, including through the #niupelapasin and “Sleeves up” campaigns.  

Venezuela 

11 October - Under the leadership of Resident Coordinator Gianluca Rampolla, the UN in Venezuela team continues to support the national response to the multifaceted impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. UNICEF continues strengthening the country’s cold chain capacity, supporting national efforts to store and transport vaccines throughout the country.   Our team is also providing vital supplies to hospitals, including hygiene and sanitation equipment, while boosting health system capacities. 

COVAX  

Afghanistan 

13 October - The country received 5,248,850 vaccines, including 4,048,850 through COVAX. As of 2 October, a total of 2,395,404 individuals have been vaccinated, including 1,398,914 men and 996,490 women. Of these 1,557,174 are fully vaccinated and 838,230 partially. 

Argentina 

14 October - Argentina received a new batch of over 960,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from Spain through COVAX. This delivery brings the total number of COVAX-backed doses in Argentina to nearly 4.3 million, with the on-going support of PAHO. 

Colombia 

18 October - Today, Colombia received an additional 2.6 million doses of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX, bringing the total number of vaccines received at more than 10.8 million. 

Guatemala  

18 October - Guatemala received over 155,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from Spain through the COVAX, bringing the total number of vaccines received through this UN-backed global mechanism to 2.2 million.  

Ecuador, Honduras, and Peru 

5 October - Honduras, Ecuador and Peru have received additional batches of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX. Honduras received nearly 190,000 doses on Friday, while nearly 180,000 doses landed in Ecuador on 30 September. That same day Peru received nearly 330,000 vaccines, bringing the total number received in the country through COVAX to over 2.5 million doses.  

Guyana 

14 October - Guyana received over 100,000 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines from the USA, which authorities will gear towards vaccinating women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. With this batch, the total number of vaccines delivered to Guyana via COVAX jumps to 220,000.  

Jamaica 

14 October - Jamaica received a 108,000 of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX from Germany, bringing the total number of vaccine doses received through COVAX to over 430,000 in the country.  

Nicaragua 

4 October - Nicaragua received nearly 140,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX mechanism to boost the national vaccination scheme. To date, the country has received over 1.4 million vaccine doses via COVAX.  

Venezuela 

11 October - Venezuela recently received its second COVAX shipment with more than 2.5 million doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines in addition to the more than 15 million vaccine doses received through bilateral agreements and via the first COVAX delivery.  Nearly 10 million people have received a first vaccine dose in the country, with more than 5 million fully vaccinated.  

Latin America and the Caribbean 

5 October - Across Latin America and the Caribbean, nearly 53 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed through COVAX in 33 countries with logistical support from PAHO. 

Other

Ethiopia

20 October - We have an update from our UN team in Ethiopia, where 30 per cent of all our staff is in different regions, including Tigray. The UN and humanitarian partners are staying and delivering. For safety measures, a small proportion of the UN team has been relocated – and that’s around 100 UN staff and 17 dependents. We currently have nearly 400 staff in Tigray alone, deeply committed to deliver lifesaving needs to the most vulnerable people, those most affected by the conflict. With national and international NGOs that number is near 2,000 people in the region. Across the country, our team on the ground notes multiple safety issues that are sparking an increasing number of internally displaced people, who urgently need humanitarian assistance. 

Haiti  

18 October - In Haiti, our colleagues on the ground say that a recent upsurge in gang violence, including kidnappings is impacting relief operations. The acting Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Fernando Hiraldo, says violence, looting, road blockades and the persistent presence of armed gangs all pose obstacles to humanitarian access, a situation which is further complicated by very serious fuel shortages and the reduced supply of goods. And he adds that the growing insecurity is not only hampering the humanitarian response but is creating new humanitarian needs. Since June, gang violence in the Port-au-Prince area has displaced at least 19,000 people and has affected 1.5 million. Haiti is experiencing multiple crises, including the August earthquake in which around 2,200 people died and 12,700 injured. At least 800,000 people have been affected overall. Across the country, as of September 2021, 4.3 million people were experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, up from 4 million in August 2020.