Nepal allows covid vaccine produced in India for emergency use

Symbolic image

Kathmandu: A vaccine against the corona virus called Covishield, which is being produced in India, has been allowed for emergency use in Nepal. A meeting of the Department of Drug Management has decided to allow the vaccine produced by the Indian company Serum Institute for emergency use.

Serum Institute, the world’s largest pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturer, is producing vaccines in India developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.

India has already announced that the vaccine will be given to the general public in India from Saturday (tomorrow). According to Indian media, Serum has already produced more than 50 million doses of vaccine.

The department had issued a notice on Wednesday seeking application for registration permit from the manufacturer or importer for the import of vaccine against Kovid-19. So far, three importers have applied and two of the applicants are being further studied, the department said.

In Nepal, Clover Biopharmaceuticals Australia and Vaxine PTY Limited have given permission to test the third phase of the Covid-19 vaccine produced by Australia, while the process for testing the Covax-19 vaccine produced by Vaccine is also underway, the department said.