Leaked documents of correspondence between Nepal's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu show that
Beijing had put pressure on the Himalayan country to accept its Covid vaccine
without its efficiency and efficacy being established.
Nepali media on Sunday published stories on the basis of the leaked correspondence
which show how China made Nepal accept its Sinovac vaccine produced by
Sinopharm without any further delay.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a telephone conversation with his Nepali
counterpart Pradeep Kumar Gyawali on Friday and put pressure to accept the
vaccines first under the condition that the details about the vaccines will be
sent afterward; a topsy-turvy way of vaccine procurement.
Necessary documents will be provided later, but take the vaccine immediately,
as per the letter the Chinese Embassy sent to the Nepal government, warning
that otherwise the country may need to wait quite long to get the vaccine. The
Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu is yet to confirm the validity of the letter but
Nepali officials confirmed that it was genuine.
With Nepal raising concern about the Chinese vaccine, China told Nepal to
transport the Sinopharm vaccines immediately and that the relevant documents,
including the legal disclaimer, may be provided simultaneously or later. Earlier,
the Nepali side had sent a letter to the Chinese Embassy in Nepal saying that
the company supplying the vaccine had not provided the required documents.
The Embassy was told that two Chinese companies -- P&G Holdings Pvt Ltd and
Hospice Enterprises Pvt Ltd -- had sought permission to supply vaccines to
Nepal and the country wanted clarification as to which company is the official
company for importing vaccines. In its reply, the Chinese Embassy said that the
Nepali side is suggested to transport the Sinopharm vaccines to be donated to
Nepal under grant assistance immediately.
"The Sinopharm vaccines are currently in high demand and short supply. In
order to provide the vaccines to Nepal at the earliest and help Nepali people's
fight against the pandemic, the Chinese side has again made arrangements to
this end in coordination with Sinopharm.
"The relevant documents including legal disclaimer may be provided simultaneously
or later," it said. The letter went on to say: "If the Nepali side
could not collect this batch of the vaccine as soon as possible, it will be
redistributed by other commercial orders and the manufacturing of the vaccines
for Nepal will have to be put on a much later list."
"The Embassy hopes that relevant Nepali authorities could facilitate the
early approval and registration of Sinopharm vaccine for the emergency use in
Nepal for the benefit of the Nepali people." On January 31, the Chinese
Embassy in Nepal stated that it would provide 300,000 doses of Sinovac vaccine
produced by its own state-owned company Sinopharm to Nepal.
However, according to Foreign Minister Gyawali's statement on Friday, during a
telephone conversation between his Chinese counterpart, China agreed to
increase the quantity to 500,000 doses. There is a provision that the Nepal's
Department of Drug Administration should give permission for a vaccine after
studying whether it is suitable for use.
The Nepal government has not given permission for the use of Chinese vaccines
yet. Nepal had been promised two million Covid vaccines by India and another two
million vaccines by the UK. The third phase trials of the Sinovac vaccine,
developed by Sinopharm, was found only 50.4 percent effective in Brazil.