Ministry sent a proposal to Serum Institute of India asking the vaccine manufacturer to sell the vaccine directly to the government. Health Minister Khatiwada also requested the Indian ambassador to facilitate the purchase.
The Ministry of Health and Population has been planning to purchase an additional 5 million doses of Covishield vaccine from the Serum Institute of India.
For that the ministry has sent a proposal to the vaccine manufacturing company requesting it to sell the jabs directly to the government.
“We have already sent a proposal to the vaccine manufacturing company to sell 5 million doses of Covishield directly to the government,” Health Secretary Dr Roshan Pokhrel, told the Post. “Like in the past, we want to procure vaccines directly from the vaccine manufacturing company.”
Earlier in February, the Health Ministry had purchased 2 million doses of Covishield from the Serum Institute of India, at $4 per dose.
The Health Ministry later tried to purchase an additional 5 million doses, but the Indian firm refused to sell at the same price it sold earlier.
The Health Ministry was even ready to pay an additional amount for the vaccine but when the second wave of infections hit India, which infected hundreds of thousands of people and killed thousands, authorities in India restricted the export of Covid-19 vaccine.
As a result Nepal’s plan to purchase 5 million doses was unsuccessful.
Moreover, the vaccine manufacturing company could not deliver the vaccine doses, for which Nepal had made payment in advance.
Of the 2 million doses, the vaccine manufacturing company supplied 1 million doses on February 21 and had committed to supply the remaining 1 million doses within 10 days.
The remaining 1 million doses were delivered on October 9 only.
Due to delay in supplying the remaining doses on time, around 1.4 million elderly people over 65 years old, who had taken the first doses of Covishield vaccine between March 7 and 15, had to wait for months for the second dose. After Bhutan and Japan supplied AstraZeneca vaccine, second doses were administered to the elderly.
Bhutan had supplied 230,000 AstraZeneca doses and Japan supplied 1,614,740 doses of the vaccine in August.
A few days ago, Minister for Health and Population Birodh Khatiwada in his meeting with Indian ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra told him that the government wants to purchase 5 million doses of Covishield and asked him to facilitate the procurement.
“The Indian ambassador has assured help,” said Health Secretary Pokhrel.
