KATHMANDU – The first consignment of Covid vaccines donated by China to Nepal is arriving in Kathmandu. The vaccines have already been loaded into an aircraft bound to Kathmandu. China is donating 800,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines to Nepal. The vaccines will be formally handed over to government officials tommorrow.
Though China had first announced that it would provide Nepal 300,000 vaccines as gifts to Nepal in January and later increased the quantity to 800,000 in March, there were delays in the delivery of the vaccines.
Following the announcement of China, Nepal’s drug regulator Department of Drug Administration on February 17 had granted approval for the emergency use of COVID-19 vaccine developed by China’s Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co. Ltd, under Sinopharm. This was the second Covid vaccine that Nepal has authorized for the emergency use in the country.
While Nepal had received one million doses of Covid vaccines from Indian government as part of its vaccine diplomacy, the Government of Nepal had decided to purchase 2 million doses of Covishield from the vaccine manufacturer the Serum Institute of India.
Out of two million doses ordered by the Government of Nepal, the Serum Institute of India has delivered only one million doses. As Serum Institute failed to deliver remaining vaccines, the government halted its vaccination campaign due to the shortage of jabs.
