KATHMANDU (ET): The coronavirus vaccine Covishield provided by the Government of India has arrived in Nepal today morning. An Air India plane with Covishield vaccine has landed at Tribhuvan International Airport.
The Minister of Health Hridayesh Tripathi and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra had informed at a press conference on Wednesday that the vaccine would arrive in Kathmandu on Thursday.
India has provided covisheld vaccine to Nepal, which was developed by Serum Institute of India (SII) in collaboration with Oxford University and British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. The AZD 1222 vaccine, jointly developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, is manufactured by India’s SII under the name ‘Covishield’.
The Department of Drug Administration (DDA) had already granted conditional permission to covishield for emergency use last Friday. The vaccine, which is being imported from India, can be stored at a temperature of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for 6 months.
The government will distribute and inoculate the vaccine for frontline health workers accross Nepal. The government of India had agreed to provide one million doses of vaccine for free. The government is considering to buy further doses of vaccine from SII after observation of its effectiveness.
According to government sources the vaccination program will start by next week.
