United States provides additional $5 million for urgent COVID-19 assistance in Thailand

Today (12 Aug), the United States—through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)—announced $5 million in urgent COVID-19 assistance for Thailand. This assistance will support health workers administering vaccines and strengthen the supply chain of vaccines to ensure that they reach vulnerable populations. The funding will also strengthen the ability of the Royal Thai Government’s health system to prevent, detect, and respond to COVID-19.

During an official visit to Thailand, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced the $5 million in COVID-19 assistance for Thailand and more than $50 million in humanitarian aid for Burma. Of this funding, USAID is providing nearly $28 million.

“The United States is proud to stand with Thailand as we fight this global pandemic,” said Michael Heath, Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Thailand. “Building on our longstanding health partnership and continuing support to Thailand, this additional assistance will help strengthen the country’s capacity to respond to COVID-19.”

This assistance builds on the more than $7.1 million in COVID-19 assistance that USAID has provided to Thailand since the start of the pandemic. USAID has provided sustained support over the last decade to boost Thailand’s diagnostic capacity for emerging infectious diseases of pandemic potential. At the outbreak of the pandemic, USAID assistance to the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Diseases Health Science Centre at Chulalongkorn University contributed to Thailand’s confirmation of the first traveler-imported COVID-19 case. USAID has also provided personal protective equipment for Thai health workers; COVID-19 information to more than 117,000 migrants and persons from high-risk communities; and is helping to strengthen diagnostic and testing surge capacity. As part of President Biden’s pledge to provide 80 million vaccine doses of America’s vaccine supply, the U.S. has donated 1,503,450 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to Thailand in July. The U.S. will provide an additional one million vaccine doses – for a total of 2.5 million doses to Thailand.

These efforts build on decades of life-saving work and USAID leadership in tackling global health crises. Over the past 60 years, USAID has saved millions of lives from infectious diseases such as Ebola, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and now COVID-19.

Diseases know no borders. The assistance provided by the United States to countries in the region will help keep the region – and Thailand – safe. The United States is committed to partnering with Thailand to end the COVID-19 pandemic, mitigate the devastating social and economic impacts, and build back a world that is better prepared for future outbreaks.