Nepal to get over 100,000 Pfizer vaccines tomorrow

Nepal is receiving as many as 100,620 doses of Pfizer vaccines tomorrow, according to the US Embassy in Kathmandu.

The US embassy in Kathmandu today informed through twitter that the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine -- donated by the United States through COVAX, the international vaccine sharing scheme backed by the United Nations -- will arrive by Monday. "The vaccines are provided by the US to help control the spread of Covid-19 pandemic as well as to accelerate vaccination drive in Nepal," according to the twitter.

The US has already provided 1.53 million doses of J&J vaccines to Nepal in July.

The ministry has decided to provide the vaccines from 22 hospitals throughout the country to the people with compromised immunity.

The Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine will be the fourth vaccine to be used in Nepal. Nepal has so far received AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured in India, Japan and Europe; Vero Cell vaccine manufactured by Sinopharm of China; and the single-shot Janssen made by Johnson & Johnson in the United States.

This is the first time Nepal is getting Pfizer vaccines. Pfizer-BioNtech, the first mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine, is developed jointly by the US-based Pfizer and the German firm Biontech uses a copy of a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) to produce an immune response.

It is said that the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine was 95 per cent effective at preventing laboratory-confirmed infection with the coronavirus.

Nepal has received 18,857,590 doses of Vero Cell, AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines till today.

Final consignment of AstraZeneca gifted by Japan arrives

Nepal today received some 559, 360 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine -- the final consignment promised -- from Japan.

Officials handed over the last batch of the total 1.6 million doses Japan had pledged to Nepal through Covax, according to a press note issued by the Embassy of Japan in Kathmandu.

"Nepal received the final consignment of vaccines from Japan today,” confirmed Department of Health Services.

Japan gifted a total of 1,055,380 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured in Japan under the United Nations-backed international vaccine-sharing scheme. "On August 7 and 8, Nepal received some 513,420 doses and some 333,900 doses," the press note reads, adding that Japan also provided some 208,060 doses on August 21.

Japan in July had announced that it would provide some 1,614,740 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine through Covax.

The vaccine will be used to give second doses to those who had taken their first doses of Covishield, the AstraZeneca type of vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, in the second week of March.

Around 1.4 million people -- aged 65 and above -- who had taken first doses of Covishield between March 7 and 15, were deprived of their second doses as Nepal had failed to secure additional doses of AstraZeneca vaccine.

After Bhutan supplied 230,000 doses and Japan supplied the first consignment of AstraZeneca vaccine, the government started giving second doses from August 9 to those who took their first doses in March.

Nepal has used AstraZeneca vaccine -- manufactured in India, Japan, and Europe -- Vero Cell -- developed by China’s Sinopharm -- and Janssen by Johnson and Johnson of the US to inoculate against the coronavirus. "Nepal has received some 13,227,590 doses of vaccine till date," according to the Health Ministry. "Of the total, some 7.4 million doses of Vero Cell -- 5.6 million doses bought and 1.8 million doses provided under grants -- have arrived in Nepal."

In July, the US provided some 1,534,850 doses of single-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccin through the Covax facility. "Covax itself had supplied some 348,000 doses of Covishield in March.

Earlier, India had also provided 1.1 million Covishield vaccine under grant assistance and Nepal had purchased 1 million doses from the Serum Institute of India but the Supreme Court in India baned export of vaccine.

Likewise, Bhutan has also provided some 230,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine. "Of the 6 million doses of Vero Cell purchases by Nepal, only 1.6 million doses have been delivered," the ministry informed, adding that China has also pledged to provide an additional 1.6 million doses of Vero Cell under grant assistance.

Meanwhile, the government has already paid for 4 million doses of the Moderna vaccine through the World Bank to the US manufacturer of the vaccine, which will be delivered by mid-February. "By the mid-February Nepal will receive some 11 million doses from Covax under a cost-sharing mechanism, which means the government will pay the vaccine-sharing scheme the amount equivalent to what the facility paid to the manufacturing company," according to the health ministry notice.

"Some 4,942,250 Nepalis (16.47 per cent) have taken their first dose of vaccine and some 3,846,736 Nepalis ( 12.82 per cent) have been fully immunised by yesterday," the ministry confirmed.

The rest of Japan-pledged Covid-19 vaccine will arrive in a few days

The remaining doses of AstraZeneca vaccine Japan pledged for Nepal through Covax Facility are expected to arrive in Kathmandu on August 21 and 23, according to a press note issued by the Japanese Embassy in Kathmandu.

The half of approximately 1.6 million doses were already delivered to Nepal on August 7 and 8 and have been used in the current vaccination campaign. The exact amount of vaccine donated from Japan to Nepal will be 1,614,740 doses in total.

Ambassador Kikuta Yutaka stated that the vaccine donation is a symbol of friendship between Japan and Nepal. Japan is a country, which keeps her words and I am pleased all the more that Japan will provide actually more than pledged 1.6 million doses vaccines by the end of August," he is quoted in the press note. "We deeply appreciate the dedication and hard work of all related organizations in international community."

The Embassy of Japan is working together with the government, Covax Facility, a partnership between CEPI, Gavi, UNICEF and WHO; and international community for the mitigation of Covid-19 pandemic as well as for the progress of post-Covid society and economy of Nepal.

The health ministry is administering the vaccines received earlier from Japan to those, who have already received the first doze of AstraZeneca vaccine but were awaiting for the second one. The government had earlier administered the vaccines to elderly people.

Japan-gifted AstraZeneca vaccine arrive

 Nepal today received some 513,420 doses -- the first consignment of the 1.6 million doses -- of AstraZeneca vaccine gifted by Japan through the COVAX facility, an international vaccine-sharing scheme backed by the United Nations (UN).

The Health Ministry confirmed that some 513,420 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Nepal today morning. Some more doses -- the second consignment -- are expected to arrive tomorrow, according to the ministry. "The remaining doses of the vaccine will arrive after a week."

Japanese ambassador Kikuta Yutaka attended the hand-over ceremony of the Japanese-made AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) with the state minister of Health and Population Umesh Shrestha, joint secretary of North East Asia Division at the Foreign Ministry Lok Bahadur Thapa, representative of UNICEF Nepal Elke Wisch and WHO representative to Nepal Dr Rajesh Sambhajirao Pandav. "The vaccine donation from Japan for Nepal through COVAX facility was announced by minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Motegi Toshimitsu on July 13," according to Japanese Embassy in Kathmandu. "The remaining half of 1.6 million doses pledged by Japan will be shipped to Kathmandu shortly, once the arrangements of the relevant organisations finalised," the Embassy press note reads.

At the hand-over ceremony, ambassador Kikuta stated that this donation is 'From the People of Japan for the Friendship with Nepal'. He also appreciated the cooperation of all the concerned organisations including the government of Nepal and the international organisations such as COVAX, GAVI, WHO and UNICEF. He also mentioned that the Government of Japan strongly supports the vaccination campaign by Deuba administration, which is necessary for the progress of post-COVID Nepali society and its economic recovery. "We hope that this vaccine, together with other generous contributions from international community, will help Nepal to ease down various difficulties caused by the Covid-19," the ambassador added.

Japan has been providing various support for Nepal to tackle with the Covid-19 pandemic with medical equipment for Nepali hospitals to date, the Embassy of Japan will continue working together with Nepal to overcome the pandemic, the press note reads.

The vaccine from Japan arrived in Nepal a day after 230,000 doses of the same type of vaccine were delivered to Nepal by Bhutan. Nepal needs some 1.4 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine immediately to administer second doses to those aged 65 and above, who took their first doses in the second week of March.

The received vaccine will be provided as the second doses to those over 65 years from Monday,” the Health Ministry confirmed.

Nepal started the vaccination drive in January with the 1 million doses of Covishield, the AstraZeneca type vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, which were gifted to Nepal by India. Of the 2 million doses Nepal bought from the Serum Institute, only 1 million doses were shipped. Serum Institute of India is yet to ship the remaining doses.

According to the ministry, Nepal has received some 10,526,270 doses of vaccine from various sources.

Nepal so far has used India-manufactured Covishield, China's Sinopharm manufactured Vero Cell , The US manufactured Johnson & Johnson. "Of the total 5.8 million doses of Vero Cell, Nepal bought some 4 million doses from China whereas 1.8 million doses were provided by the Chinese government under grant assistance," according to the ministry, "On July 12, the US provided some 1,534,850 doses of Janssen through the COVAX facility, whereas COVAX itself had supplied 348,000 doses of Covishield to Nepal on March 7.

As of today, some 4,442,622 people have received their first doses (around 14.8 per cent) and some 2,359,793 people have been fully vaccinated (some 7.86 per cent). The government has unveiled a plan to procure 42 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine by February next year, and inoculate all eligible citizens above 12 years of age before mid-April.

As of Saturday, 4,442,622 people have received their first doses (around 14.8 percent) and 2,359,793 people have been fully vaccinated (7.86 percent).

ADB approves $ 165 million loan to Nepal to procure vaccines against Covid-19

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today approved a loan of $165 million for Nepal to purchase safe and effective vaccines against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

The project will support the National Deployment and Vaccination Plan in Nepal by procuring an estimated 15.9 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, which will benefit about 6.8 million Nepalis, according to a press note issued by the ADB today.

|ADB’s support will help Nepal procure much-needed Covid-19 vaccines to protect its citizens from the further spread of this disease,” said ADB president Masatsugu Asakawa. "It is essential that Covid-19 vaccines are quickly purchased and administered to help get the economy back on track by enabling the restoration of livelihoods and economic activities, as well as the resumption of educational and human development pursuits."

The project is financed by ADB’s $9 billion Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility launched in December 2020 to offer rapid and equitable vaccine-related support to ADB developing member countries. "Vaccines eligible for financing must meet at least one of the APVAX eligibility criteria: the vaccine has been selected for procurement through the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) mechanism; the vaccine has been prequalified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) or WHO emergency use listing; or the vaccine has received regular or emergency licensure or authorisation by a Stringent Regulatory Authority," reads the press note.

In addition to this project, ADB’s ongoing technical assistance grants will support the strengthening of the vaccine delivery system, communication, and community engagement to raise awareness on the risks of Covid-19 and the benefits of vaccination. The government is mobilising female community health volunteers to disseminate information among marginalised communities to raise awareness. At least one female health worker or volunteer will support the effort in every vaccination site or outreach center, it adds.

ADB closely collaborates with other partners, like the World Bank, COVAX, WHO, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in supporting Nepal in its efforts to vaccinate its people as soon as possible, the press note reads, adding that the project will complement the government’s broader response through its $1.2 billion National Relief Programme, which consists of social protection, health care, and economic relief measures. "In May 2020, ADB provided support to the programme through a $250 million concessional loan.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members, 49 from the region.

Australia delivers emergency medical support to Nepal

 Australia sent a Royal Australian Air Force flight with medical supplies to Nepal.

The medical supplies that landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) today are expected to assist in the frontline response to the Covid-19 crisis, according to a press note issued by the Australian Embassy in Kathmandu.

Australia’s ambassador to Nepal Felicity Volk handed over the equipment to Nepal Army Chief of General Staff Prabhu Ram Sharma at the international airport. The shipment include AUD$1.8 million worth of surgical masks, face shields and gloves, which were requested by the Nepal Army and donated by the Western Australian Government, the press note reads, adding that the support is in addition to the AUD$7 million announced on May 21, which is enabling established NGOs to provide medical equipment and oxygen for hospitals and training for health workers. "The Australian government continues to support the provision of safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines to Nepal, including through support to COVAX."

Handing the assistance, ambassador Volk said that the delivery to Nepal was part of Australia’s regional effort tosupport its friends in South Asia, with medical supplies provided to Sri Lanka and India in addition to Nepal. Recognising the important role of the Nepal Army in delivering frontline health services to communities across the country, Australia has directed its supplies to support the work of the Army in hospitals, isolation centres and cremation grounds, the press note reads. “Australia is joining with partners across the region to support urgent healthcare needs, including through the provision of PPE to protect those working on the frontlines of the health response."

Australia and Nepal have a long-standing history of working together in times of crisis, and the assistance provided through today’s flight demonstrates the warmth that Australians have for the people of Nepal, the press note adds.