World Bank to provide loan of Rs 8.75 billion for Vaccine purchase

KATHMANDU: The World Bank will provide a soft loan of about Rs. 8.70 billion to Nepal for the purchase of vaccine against COVID-19.

According to the bank’s Nepal director Faris Hadad Zervos, the loan assistance proposal to Nepal will be presented to the board. The World Bank loan will be used to purchase vaccines that reach a priority population which is 72 percent as per government.

According to Zervos, Nepal will be able to use the money to purchase vaccines from any manufacturer or World Health Organization-recognized Covax facility. The government is preparing to buy 2 million doses from the Indian vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute India.

The Ministry of Health has stated that the vaccine will be purchased from Serum Institute for less than 5 Dollar.

Oxford vaccine recommendation

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the use of the covid vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.

The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) has made an interim recommendation that the vaccine be given to adults of all ages. The vaccine is 63 per cent effective.

SAGE says the vaccine can also be given in countries where new variants of the coronavirus have been seen. It is said that the first dose of the vaccine is given 8 to 12 weeks after the next dose.

Professor Sarah Gilbert, the lead researcher at the Oxford Vaccine Trial, said it was important to get a vaccine recommendation from the WHO. This vaccine has also been brought to emergency use in Nepal.