China will provide 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Nepal in grant.
The Chinese Embassy in Nepal issuing a statement on Sunday has said the vaccines will be provided on request of the Nepal government to implement President Xi Jinping’s commitment to make Chinese vaccines a global public good once available.
India has already provided one million doses of Covishield in grant and the government started vaccination campaign from Wednesday to inoculate health professionals and others working on the front line including security persons, sanitation workers, ambulance drivers and others.
The Chinese vaccine developed by Sinopharm is also a two-dose vaccine like the Indian one and has already got conditional marketing approval in China with more than 24 million doses administered by January 31.
The vaccine has got licenses for marketing or approval for emergency use in 13 foreign countries including Pakistan, UAE, Egypt and Hungary, according to the statement issued by the Chinese Embassy.
"After a two-dose inoculation procedure, the vaccine shows 79.34% efficacy against COVID-19, and the seroconversion rate of neutralizing antibodies reached 99.52%," the statement reads. "The safety and effectiveness of the vaccine has surpassed the marketing standards of the World Health Organization, and received wide recognition by other countries."
The Chinese Embassy says it is coordinating with relevant Nepali authorities to get emergency use authorization for the vaccine and would like to deliver the vaccines to Nepal at the earliest.
The government on January 15 had also granted emergency use authorization for Covishield vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India before the southern neighbor announced delivery of one million doses.
