The Nippon Foundation Donates 2 Million Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine to Myanmar

The Nippon Foundation has donated 2 million doses of the Indian-made Covaxin vaccine to Myanmar to help it fight the novel coronavirus.

At a ceremony at Yangon International Airport on January 9, Mr. Yuji Mori, executive director of the foundation, handed over 1 million doses of Covaxin to Dr. Maung Maung Myint, president of the Myanmar Red Cross Society, in the presence of Japanese Ambassador to Myanmar Ichiro Maruyama.

This was Japan’s first delivery of COVID-19 vaccine to Myanmar, according to the foundation. The remaining 1 million doses were delivered on January 23.   

During a visit I made to Myanmar in November 2021, I talked with various stakeholders about how best the foundation can help the country with humanitarian assistance, especially in their fight against the novel coronavirus. I also visited IDP (internally displaced person) camps in the western state of Arakan for a first-hand look at the lives of IDPs and how they are coping amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

What I learned through these meetings was that Myanmar was facing acute shortages of COVID-19 vaccine across the nation and that people were disappointed by Japan’s failure thus far to provide vaccines to their country even though it has given them to other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). I found it unfortunate because people in Myanmar have a history of being quite friendly toward Japan.

This prompted the foundation to provide Myanmar with the Indian-made Covaxin vaccine, which is considered to be of high-quality and is accessible in large volume. I sincerely hope the vaccine will be administered to those who have yet to get their shots, especially IDPs.

Looking back, the foundation struggled hard to secure and deliver the Covaxin to Myanmar as our negotiations with the Indian vaccine manufacturer, Bharat Biotech, got off to a rocky start. Normally, governments negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies over large-scale vaccine purchases－for example, then Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla in April 2021 to expedite vaccine deliveries to Japan－and not private entities such as The Nippon Foundation, so this was something different.

Even after we agreed on the date for delivery, the company refused to transport the vaccine to Myanmar, insisting on handing over the order at their factory in India. We then managed to find a transport company that delivered the shipment from India to Myanmar via Dubai.

As of time of writing, there have been over 534,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Myanmar and over 19,000 deaths, according to the WHO. With three or four Japanese among those reportedly dying of the disease, there had been widespread anxiety in the Japanese community over the lack of vaccine availability, so I am pleased to note that the Myanmar Red Cross Society readily accepted our request for Japanese residents of Myanmar to receive the Covaxin.

Despite the ongoing political and social uncertainties in the country, we are determined to support the increasing number of IDPs and others in need of relief by providing food, medical and other humanitarian assistance with the help of the hardworking staff of our Yangon office.