Nepal will procure four million Covid-19 vaccines from China, and would launch another inoculation drive from July, media reports say. The agreement with China will be a non-disclosure agreement, meaning the vaccine procurement price would not be released publicly.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli Wednesday held a meeting of the Covid-19 Management Steering Committee and approved the proposal to purchase the vaccines from China. Earlier, Nepal’s President Bidya Devi Bhandari had a telephonic call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“Nepal government is bringing vaccines from China, considered to be the most important instrument in the control of Covid-19, and will start another round of inoculation drive from mid-July,” Oli was quoted as saying by the Himalayan Times. 

The vaccine procurement from China was earlier delayed as the manufacturer demanded a non-disclosure agreement. The government, though, was unwilling to sign the no-disclosure agreement, fearing a domestic pushback amid political instability.

So far, around 700,000 people have been vaccinated in the country largely with Covieshield provided by the Serum Institute of India  (SII) and the Indian government. However, its agreement with the SII had broken after the Covid-19 situation exploded in India, prompting the Indian government to halt the export of vaccines. 

(SAM)