Nepal to get 500,000 doses of Covid vaccine from China under grant assistance

China will provide 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Nepal on a grant basis.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with his Nepali counterpart Pradeep Gyawali on Friday evening, and assured that Beijing would accord priority to Kathmandu in vaccine cooperation. 

In addition, according to a press statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang announced China would provide 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Nepal on a grant basis.

The Embassy of China in Kathmandu recently said that China would provide 300,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that is expected to benefit 150,000 Nepali people. During the telephonic conversation between the two foreign ministers, China increased the grant assistance to 500,000 doses. During the phone conversation with Gyawali, Wang said China attaches great importance to Nepal's urgent need of Covid vaccines and has decided to provide the first batch of vaccine aid for the country.

The Chinese company producing the vaccine is yet to submit all necessary documents to the Nepal government. Without the green signal from the government, the BIBP-CorV vaccine -- developed by Sinopharm -- cannot be brought to Nepal.

China's move to supply the coronavirus vaccine to Nepal is seen as Beijing's efforts to step-up its vaccine diplomacy amid projections from experts that India could become a key player in distributing the jabs to the world.