According to the Kathmandu Post, Nepal is seeking 300,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Bhutan. - AFP file pic
According to the Kathmandu Post, Nepal is seeking 300,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Bhutan. - AFP file pic

NEPAL has asked Bhutan to give its surplus Covid-19 vaccines to the country as the Himalayan nation faces difficulties in securing supplies.

The Nepalese government made the request as Bhutan has already vaccinated 90 per cent of its population while only about five per cent in Nepal have been fully vaccinated.

According to the Kathmandu Post, Nepal is seeking 300,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Bhutan.

"Nepal has communicated to Bhutan if the surplus doses could be supplied to us on condition that we would return when we have the vaccine or any other support we could extend," a Nepali government official told The Post.

Nepal was one of the first countries in the world to launch its vaccination drive but since then, it has been struggling to secure vaccine doses.

Around 1.4 million people aged 65 and above were given the first shots of Covishield, the AstraZeneca type vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, in the second week of March.

They have since been waiting for their second doses as the government has not been able to secure any additional AstraZeneca doses.

Officials say if the 300,000 doses of AstraZeneca can be secured from Bhutan, Nepal can start administering them to the elderly as second shots.

Nepal is also waiting for the 1.6 million AstraZeneca doses that will be donated by Japan.

"We are expecting a draft copy of the memorandum of understanding from Bhutan," said a Nepali diplomat in New Delhi.

"Once we agree on the MoU forwarded by Bhutan, then there will be a tripartite agreement between Nepal, Bhutan and the vaccine-producing company for the delivery of the vaccine."

Bhutan is expected to deliver the vaccine doses within seven to 10 days after the MoU is signed.

Bhutan, with a population of about 780,000 people, is said to be among the first in the world to complete its vaccination programme with its first dose given within two weeks.

It resumed its vaccination drive on July 20 after it receiving additional doses and have since completed inoculations.

In the second week of July, half a million Moderna doses donated by the United States, 250,000 AstraZeneca shots from Denmark and another 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca from Croatia, Bulgaria and a few other countries arrived in Bhutan.

Nepal, with a population of close to 30 million, received 1.1 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from India, 348,000 AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX facility and 1.5 million doses of the single shot Johnson & Johnson vaccines from the United States through COVAX.

China has provided 1.8 million doses of Vero Cell vaccine under grant assistance and recently announced an additional donation of 1.6 million doses of Vero Cell.

Nepal has also signed a deal with Sinopharm to procure four million doses of Vero Cell and has so far received 3.2 million doses.