Nepal is receiving vaccines against COVID-19 under the COVAX facility by this July. However, the exact date of arrival and the number of vaccines has not been fixed yet.

According to sources, there is yet to confirm which types of vaccines Nepal will receive. According to Dr. Taranath Pokhrel, director of the Family Welfare Division, the COVAX facility has notified that the delivery of AstraZeneca vaccines will be made by this July. However, the exact date of delivery and the time of arrival is yet to be fixed, he added.

Dr. Pokhrel said, “Nepal has appealed for 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, but the COVAX facility is likely to deliver from 350,000 to 1.5 million doses by this July.”

COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, abbreviated as COVAX, is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines directed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the World Health Organization.

According to a report of The Himalayan Times Nepal is likely to receive 1,534,850 doses of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose Covid-19 vaccine through the COVAX facility.

In a letter written by the Ministry of Health and Population to the Department of Drug Administration, it has asked the department to clear permission for the import of over 1.5 million J&J vaccines through COVAX.

DDA is the sole authority in the country that grants authorisation for emergency use of Covid-19 vaccines. The arriving vaccine will be packaged in vials that will contain five doses per vial.

This will be the third vaccine to be used in Nepal after the Serum Institute of India produced COVISHIELD and Beijing Institute of Biological Product developed Vero cell.

Earlier, COVAX, vaccine pillar of the access to Covid-19 tools (ACT) accelerator in partnership between CEPI, Gavi, UNICEF and WHO, had committed to provide Nepal with 1,920,000 doses of COVISHIELD by May and had sent 348,000 doses of SII manufactured jabs to Nepal in the first stage on March 07

.As of Tuesday, a total of 3,371,761 people have received coronavirus vaccine across the country, of which 2,611,807 have received the first dose while only 759,954 individuals have been inoculated with both the doses and are fully vaccinated.

With report from The Rising Nepal and The Himalayan Times