Nepal receives 345,000 doses of Anti-COVID vaccine from Germany

Germany has provided 345,000 doses of vaccine against coronavirus in the first phase under COVAX facility to Nepal.

German Ambassador to Nepal, Dr Thomas Prinz, on Wednesday handed over the vaccines to Minister for Health and Population, Padam Giri.

The government of Germany has committed to provide 1.5 million doses of vaccines in different phases. Nepal had received 345,000 doses of Pfizer bivalent vaccines for booster dose on February 13.

On the occasion, Minister Giri said the vaccines would be administered to the target groups and senior citizens.  He also lauded the support of the German government in the post-earthquake relief and recovery in Nepal.

Similarly, Ambassador Dr Prinz   said the government of Germany would continue its support in the coming days. He expressed the hope that the vaccine provided by the German government would be properly utilized.

“From the beginning of this pandemic Germany has supported the people of Nepal and has advocated for multilateral solutions like COVAX and ACT-Accelerator.

Vaccines are the key in the fight against this pandemic and I am delighted to hand over today vaccines that were invented in Germany. With this delivery the German support reaches more than 5.6 million Doses,” said Ambassador Dr Prinz. “Nepal is one of the top 10 countries worldwide to receive vaccine support from Germany.”

Although the number of COVID-19 infections in Nepal is relatively low at present, experts remain concerned about potential new surges in the days to come. So far, over 82 per cent of the total population has been vaccinated, with 9,083,976 having received booster shots (Until Feb 7, 2023).

“In light of rising COVID-19 infections in different countries around the world, we are keen to continue administering booster shots and expand protection to more people across Nepal,” said Honorable Minister for Health and Population Padam Giri.

“This generous assistance from Germany comes at a crucial time to support our vaccination efforts.”

Germany was one of the founding members of the Country Coordinating Mechanism Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator) in April 2020 and remains its second-largest donor, with contributions totaling 3.3 billion euro so far.

Germany has donated and delivered approximately 120 million doses since the start of the pandemic – the majority of them through COVAX.