Dharamsala, Jan 12 (IANS): As a goodwill gesture, Tibetan community in Austria and Switzerland have initiated a financial contribution towards the arrangement of a Covid-19 vaccine for needy Tibetans in India, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) said on Tuesday.

Joining the efforts of CTA's preparation for arranging Covid-19 vaccine as and when it is ready, the Tibetans in Austria contributed 3,298 euros to the Department of Health of the CTA, an official statement said.

Similarly, Bokong Choekyi from Tibetan community in Horgen in Switzerland donated CHF 1,000 towards facilitating the vaccine.

Compared to enormous responsibilities, the contribution amount is little, said the CTA.

However, the Tibetan community of Austria has taken the initiative to morally support the department in this challenging pandemic situation, said President of the community, Tsering Namgyal.

Representative Chhimey Rigzen of the Tibet Bureau Geneva commended the initiative and kind gestures of contributing towards the COVID-19 vaccination drive for Tibetans in India.

The 85-year-old Dalai Lama, the global face of the Tibetan movement, lives in exile in Dharamsala along with some 140,000 Tibetans, with over 100,000 of them in different parts of India, while over six million Tibetans still live in Tibet.