India to send 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Nepal

KATHMANDU: India will be sending one million doses of coronavirus vaccine to Nepal on January 21 under VaccineMaitri, said Hridayesh Tripathi, Nepal Health Minister, on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference, Tripathi said, "India to provide one million dosages of COVID-19 vaccine to Nepal under VaccineMaitri programme. The vaccines will land in Kathmandu tomorrow."

He further said that the frontline workers will be the first to be administered the vaccine.

While reiterating India-Nepal's friendship, the Minister said that the first lot of vaccines will be on grant assistance.

As part of India's Neighbourhood First policy, till now Bhutan and Maldives have been sent the gift of coronavirus vaccines.

India will be supplying vaccines on a gratis basis to Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles from January 20 onwards, according to an earlier statement by the Ministry of External Affairs.

It had further said that India is awaiting confirmation of necessary regulatory clearances concerning the supply of medicines in respect of Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius.

India had earlier supplied hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir and paracetamol tablets, as well as diagnostic kits, ventilators, masks, gloves and other medical supplies to a large number of countries during the COVID19 pandemic.