Kathmandu, February 16
Germany delivered more than 1.5 million doses of Bivalent Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech to Nepal through the COVAX initiative.
The German ambassador in Nepal, Thomas Prinz, handed over the vaccines to the Minister of Health and Population Padam Giri at the Ministry on Wednesday. With Prinz were present the UNICEF representative in Nepal, Elke Wisch, and the WHO representative in Nepal, Rajesh Sambhajirao Pandav.
“Since the beginning of this pandemic, Germany has supported the people of Nepal and advocated for multilateral solutions such as COVAX and ACT-Accelerator. Vaccines are key in the fight against this pandemic and I am delighted to deliver today’s vaccines that were invented in Germany,” Prinz said, adding that Germany had supported Nepal with 5.6 million doses of vaccines so far.
Although the number of covid infections in Nepal is currently relatively low, experts remain concerned about possible further increases in the coming days. So far, more than 82 percent of the total population has been vaccinated, and about 9.08 million have received booster shots.
“In light of rising covid infections in different countries around the world, we are looking forward to continuing to give booster vaccinations and extending protection to more people across Nepal,” Giri said. “This generous assistance from Germany comes at a crucial time in supporting our vaccination efforts.”
The COVAX Center is part of the ACT-Accelerator and brings together several key partners such as Gavi, Vaccine Alliance, WHO and UNICEF to ensure efficient and equitable global allocation of covid-19 vaccines.
UNICEF Representative in Nepal Wisch thanked the government and people of Germany for contributing these life-saving vaccines in Nepal.
“On behalf of the COVAX facility, we thank the Government of Germany for providing this impetus to the country’s ongoing vaccination campaign,” Wisch said.
