China to provide 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Nepal

Kathmandu, Jan. 31

China is providing 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Nepal in grant.

Embassy of China in Kathmandu on Sunday informed about the decision in a statement.

“In order to implement President Xi Jinping’s commitment that China will make its vaccines a global public good once available, and on the request of the Nepal’s government，the Chinese government has decided to provide 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in grant assistance to Nepal,” read the statement.

The vaccines would benefit 150,000 people.

Despite huge demands for the vaccines both in China domestically and across the world at present, the Chinese government has prioritised Nepal in providing the vaccines, the embassy has said.

The vaccine being donated is developed by the Sinopharm and has got conditional marketing approval in China while more than 24 million doses have been administrated by January 31.

After a two-dose inoculation procedure, the vaccine shows 79.34 per cent efficacy against COVID-19, and the seroconversion rate of neutralising antibodies reached 99.52 per cent, the embassy said.

It also claimed that the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine has surpassed the marketing standards of the World Health Organisation. The vaccine has got licenses for marketing or approval for emergency use in 13 countries, including Pakistan, the UAE, Egypt and Hungary.

The embassy said that it was coordinating with relevant Nepali authorities on the registration for emergency use and receipt of the vaccine and it would like to deliver the vaccines to the Nepal at the earliest.

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 1 February 2021.