KATHMANDU, JUNE 17

The government has decided to procure additional doses of Covid-19 vaccine from China aiming to launch another inoculation drive from mid-July.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli during a meeting of the Covid-19 Management Steering Committee on Wednesday stated that the government has decided to purchase the vaccines from China on condition of a non-disclosure agreement.

Nepal government is bringing vaccines from China, considered to be the most important instrument in the control of Covid-19, and will start the another round of inoculation drive from mid-July, PM Oli said during the meeting.

Earlier, the government's attempt to purchase the Covid jabs from a Chinese company had hit the snag after the company demanded a non-disclosure agreement on the price of the vaccine.

The unwillingness of the company had caused the government to step back from the procurement track.

As Nepal's procurement guidelines do not allow non-disclosure agreements, the government will now have to work around it for the vaccines to arrive.

The country that was one of the very first countries in Southeast Asia to kick-start vaccine administration with India manufactured COVISHIELD, has significantly lagged behind other countries with quite a handful of obstacles in its vaccine procurement plans.