Kathmandu: Japan has donated about 1.6 million doses of the Japan-made Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine to Nepal as a grant through the COVAX facility.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Japanese Embassy in Kathmandu said that the aid was announced by Motegi Toshimitsu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan on Tuesday.
The exact shipping schedule will be confirmed once the procurement arrangement will be finalized by the international organization which is in charge of the matter, according to the Embassy.
Kikuta Yutaka, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, stated this is a reflection of the long-time friendship of Nepal toward Japan.
“He welcomed the decision by Tokyo as the vaccine is urgently needed to save the lives of many Nepali people. Ambassador is hopeful that this vaccine will ease down various difficulties caused by the Covid-19 situation,” reads the statement.
Those Japan-made AstraZeneca vaccines will effectively assist the second injection of elderly people who already had the first vaccination of Covishield, the AstraZeneca-type vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India. Nearly, 1.4 million elderly people are deprived of getting the second dose of Covishield vaccines after India refused to send a million doses of vaccines, which Nepal had already paid for.
The Embassy said it hopes that this vaccination assistance will save the lives of more Nepali people from Covid-19, and it strongly supports the vaccination campaign which is necessary for the progress of post-Covid Nepali society and its economy.
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