The move paves the way for China to donate 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine to the Himalayan nation, which last month received one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine free of charge from its other big neighbour India. Nepal will also buy the AstraZeneca vaccine from India. "Conditional permission has been granted to the Chinese vaccine for its emergency use in Nepal," said Santosh K.C, a senior official in the Department of Drug Administration. In recent years, China and India have jockeyed for influence in Nepal and poured millions of dollars into aid and investment in infrastructure. But demand for vaccines in the country with poor health infrastructure has offered India, the world's biggest vaccine maker, a way to claw back ground.

Source: bd News24 February 18, 2021 06:11 UTC