1.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine arrive

A total of 1.3 million doses of vaccine donated by France and Italy through the COVAX facility has arrived here today.

France and Italy provided the number of doses of vaccine against COVID-19 to help Nepal in the vaccination campaign against coronavirus.

At a programme organized here on Wednesday, EU Ambassador to Nepal, Nona Deprez, along with high diplomatic officials of France and Germany handed over the vaccines to Minister for Health and Population, Birodh Khatiwada.
On the occasion, Minister Khatiwada said, “On the behalf of the government and the people of Nepal, I thank France and Italy for their donation of 1.3 million vaccines in this hour of need. This is an example of the friendship that exists between Nepal and the EU member states. As the entire world is grappling with the COVID crisis, a collective effort is the only solution. Together, we all will prevail.”

Similarly, EU Ambassador Deprez said, “These vaccine donated by France and Italy today, and tose donated earlier by Germany, are the embodiment of EU’s friendship with Nepal. Together, Team Europe (the European Union, its institutions and all 27 Member States) has donated half of the 11 million vaccines shared so far via COVAX in Nepal. And we hope there is more to come. This reflects EU’s commitment for global solidarity and multilateral solutions, which was also displayed in EU’s strong support of COVAX, the global vaccine alliance, with more than 3 billion euros.”

France handed over 685,400 doses of AstraZeneca and 663,600 doses was received from Italy. Added to the 4.1 million vaccines sent by Germany, this brings the number of doses shared by EU member states to 5.4 million.