China-donated COVID-19 vaccines arrive in Mongolia

A charter flight carrying COVID-19 vaccines developed by Chinese company Sinopharm and donated by the Chinese government and People's Liberation Army arrived in Mongolia on Feb 22.

The vaccine donation was delivered at the Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Mongolia's capital Ulan Bator. Mongolian Deputy Prime Minister Sainbuyan Amarsaikhan and Chinese Ambassador to Mongolia Chai Wenrui attended the handover ceremony of the vaccines at the airport.

Amarsaikhan appreciated the vaccine donation by the Chinese government and people. 

He said that 2020 is a special year and even now the COVID-19 pandemic is still spreading. Mongolian people often said that neighbors are connected at heart and share a common destiny. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, China and Mongolia have shared information and supported each other, making their neighborly cooperation a good model.

The Chinese government and people have successively assisted Mongolia with such medical supplies as masks, protection suits and respirators, providing an important support for Mongolia's anti-pandemic efforts, said Amarsaikhan. 

He said he believes the vaccine donation will help Mongolia achieve new results and step up to a new phase in its fight against the virus. 

Chai said that China and Mongolia are friendly neighbors connected by mountains and rivers. Since the outbreak, the two countries have supported each other and worked together to fight against it and jointly build a China-Mongolia community of health. 

Currently, as the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines is very tight, China donated vaccines to Mongolia, honoring its solemn pledge of making the Chinese vaccines a global public good. This fully demonstrates that the people of the two nations share deep affection, said Chai.

He said he believes the vaccines will help Mongolia better respond to the pandemic, and China will continue to work with Mongolia to strengthen their joint anti-pandemic efforts and win the final victory over it. The joint efforts will contribute to more achievements in future cooperation in various areas between the two nations. 

China has always honored its pledges in international cooperation and has been firmly promoting international anti-pandemic cooperation. It has injected great strengthen into the global pandemic fight with practical actions and provided strong guarantees for making the vaccines a global public good, which was proved by the recent donation of vaccines, said a citizen of Ulan Bator, adding that Mongolian people highly trust the Chinese vaccines’ safety, effectiveness, accessibility and affordability.

Dozens of Mongolian mainstream media, including TV5 and NTN, live broadcast the Chinese vaccines handover ceremony, which gave rise to a wide social response.

Locals praised the deep friendship between China and Mongolia and appreciated China for its long-standing support and warm help. They said they believe that as vaccination is going to move forward in an orderly way, the Chinese, Mongolian and other peoples from around the world will soon win the victory and resume social production and normal life. 

Mongolia is still at high risk from the pandemic and the situation in Ulan Bator allows no optimism. As of 11 o’clock on Feb 22, Mongolia had reported 2,693 confirmed COVID-19 cases and six deaths, and in all 1,933 patients had been cured. The number of cases in Ulan Bator had reached 1,852, accounting for 68.77 percent of the country's total confirmed cases. 

To curb the pandemic fast and effectively, the Mongolian government decided to start its vaccination plan from Feb 23 and is seeking COVID-19 vaccines from around the world. 

The first groups to receive vaccination will be frontline workers facing high risks such as medical workers and police officers, and the vaccination coverage will then spread more widely.