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Nepal received 4 million doses of Sinovac-CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine from China.

According to the Department of Health Service, China provided 3.5 million doses of vaccine on Saturday and 500,000 on Monday under the grant assistance.

Badebabu Thapa, a senior official at the Logistic Management Section under the Department of Health Services, confirmed that Nepal received 4 million doses of Sinovac-CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine.

It has been learnt that the vaccine can be administered to people above 18 years of age.

Earlier in May, the World Health Organization (WHO) had granted emergency use approval to the Sinovac-CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine.

Sri Lanka has sought an additional credit line of $1bn from India to import essentials amid its worst economic crisis in decades, Reuters has reported, citing two sources, as the Indian foreign minister began talks with the government of its neighbour, Aljazeera reported.

The island nation is struggling to pay for essential imports of food and fuel after a 70 percent drop in foreign exchange reserves since January 2020 led to a currency devaluation and efforts to seek help from global lenders.

New Delhi has indicated it would meet the request for the new line, to be used for importing essential items such as rice, wheat flour, pulses, sugar and medicine, said one of the sources briefed on the matter.

Sri Lanka has requested an additional $1 billion credit line from India for imports of essentials,” the second source said. “This will be on top of the $1-billion credit line already pledged by India.”

Both sources declined to be identified as the discussions were confidential.

The finance and foreign ministries of Sri Lanka, as well as India’s foreign ministry, did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to Aljazeera.

Sri Lankan finance minister Basil Rajapaksa signed the earlier credit line of $1bn this month in the Indian capital of New Delhi to help pay for critical imports.

Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met Rajapaksa on Monday after arriving in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo late the previous day.

“Discussed the economic situation and India’s supportive response,” Jaishankar said on Twitter, with a photograph of the two officials together.

In addition to the credit lines, India extended a $400m currency swap and a $500m credit line for fuel purchases to Sri Lanka earlier this year.

Sri Lanka’s imports stalled, causing shortages of many essential items, after foreign currency reserves fell to $2.31bn by February.

The nation, just off India’s southern tip, has to repay debt of about $4bn in the rest of this year, including a $1bn international sovereign bond that matures in July, according to Aljazeera.

Rajapaksa is set to fly to Washington, DC next month to start talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a rescue plan.

“India is also very supportive of Sri Lanka’s decision to seek an IMF programme and has given their fullest support,” one of the sources added, according to Aljazeera.

The Ministry of Health and Population is going to administer vaccines against typhoid targeting children from 15 months to 15 years of age. 

According to Ministry joint-spokesperson Dr Samir Kumar Adhikari, the nationwide vaccination campaign will kick off on April 8 and will conclude on May 1.

Parents/guardians have been requested to visit the nearby vaccination centre and ensure each eligible child is vaccinated against typhoid fever.

According to Dr Adhikari, after the campaign, the typhoid vaccine will be incorporated into the government’s routine vaccination programmes for children. RSS

Nepal reported 21 new Covid-19 cases on Monday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 5, 152 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 11 returned positive. Likewise, 1, 157 people underwent antigen tests, of which six were tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 319 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 1, 254 active cases in the country.