LISBON, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday that it had sent to Timor-Leste a batch of 12,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses, as well as syringes and needles.
"This action concludes the first cycle of sending vaccines to the PALOP (Portuguese-speaking African Countries) and Timor-Leste," said the Portuguese government in an official statement.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there was a "political commitment to make available to those countries, which are our main cooperation partners, at least five percent of the vaccines against COVID-19 purchased by Portugal."
The operation also involves the Portuguese Ministry of Health, the National Authority for Medicines and Health Products and the Task Force of the National Vaccination Plan against COVID-19 in Portugal.
To bring life back to normal, countries worldwide such as China, Russia and the United States as well as the European Union have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines. Enditem
