March 20, 2021
1 min read

Nepal gives emergency nod to India’s Covaxin

India’s homegrown Covaxin is the third Covid-19 vaccine authorised in Nepal, reports Asian Lite News

Nepal’s drug regulatory body has approved India’s Covaxin jab against Covid-19 for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).

Nepal’s EUA approval for Covaxin, produced by Bharat Biotech International, came on Friday, making it the third country to do so.

Prior to this, Nepal had given the EUA approval to Covishield, a vaccine developed by Serum Institute of India, as well as China’s Sinopharm.

Immunisation against Covid-19 started in Nepal after it received one million doses of the Covid vaccines in grant from India in January produced by Serum Institute.

Also Read – Quad to up India’s vaccine output focusing Indo-Pacific

The Himalayan nation also procured another one million Covishield jabs at a discounted price.

The Health Ministry said that it is waiting to receive an additional one million doses of the Covishield but was not not sure when it will arrive.

Until Nepal gets the third consignment from the Serum Institute, it has paused Covid vaccination, health officials said.

Covaxin was shown to be 81 per cent effective in an interim analysis of late-stage trial data on some 26,000 people in India, according to a media report.

Nepal so far has received 2,348,000 doses of vaccines — 1,000,000 doses under grant assistance from India; 1,000,000 doses of the 2,000,000 doses that the government has bought from the Serum Institute of India; and 348,000 doses under the COVAX facility.

But Nepal has yet to receive the Chinese Covid vaccine though it has promised to deliver 800,000 doses in a grant.

Also Read – Nepal’s embattled PM takes jab

Two more companies — Russia’s Sputnik V and China’s Sinovac — had filed applications at the department for approval, according to the drug regulatory body of Nepal.

Nepal has already inoculated over 1.6 million population against the disease.

Previous Story

Tesla cars banned in China’s military, govt premises

Next Story

Chinese pressure? Lanka approves Sinopharm

Latest from -Top News

Trump due in Saudi, UAE amid new tariffs

The GCC bloc, which includes the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, has been hit with a 10% tariff, placing them among the lower-tiered rates US President Donald Trump has

China Says US Tariff Hikes Violate WTO Rules

China is among the hardest-hit, facing a 34 per cent levy—part of what Washington describes as reciprocal measures aimed at rebalancing trade deficits and curbing unfair trade practices China has strongly condemned

Modi Due in Sri Lanka to Cement Ties

Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha described the visit to island nation as “very important” and likely will set a fresh agenda for bilateral cooperation Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit

India Acts as ‘First Responder’ in Myanmar: Jaishankar

Jaishankar took the opportunity to underscore India’s swift humanitarian response, highlighting Operation Brahma, which was launched to assist those affected by the earthquake. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday expressed India’s
Go toTop