Moldova is set to receive half a million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine from the United States to help the small nation combat the coronavirus pandemic.
The first 150,000 doses pg gaming of J&J are to arrive in Moldova — a country of 3.5 million, Europe's poorest sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine — on July 12, the U.S. Embassy officials in Moldova said..
Moldovan President Maia Sandu thanked the U.S. for the vaccines and said that they will "help save lives, preserve the health of our citizens and reduce the force of the pandemic.”
“Now, we must mobilize ourselves and, in solidarity, get vaccinated,” Sandu, a former World Bank official, wrote online.
The announcement came days ahead of an early) parliamentary election in Moldova that pits pro-Western reformists against a Russia-friendly bloc of Socialists and Communists, with recent polls giving a lead to the former.
“This donation could not come at a more important time,” the U.S. Embassy in Moldova said in a statement. “The U.S. remains Moldova's steadfast partner in combating the COVID-19 pandemic and saving Moldovan lives.”