Nepal urges US for 'priority' on Covid-19 vaccines

Nepal has urged United States to "accord due priority" to it on vaccines that the US plans to distribute among developing countries.

In a telephonic conversation with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Monday, Nepal's Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali conveyed gratitude on behalf of the country for the generous COVID-related cooperation by the US, which helped scale up the Nepal's capacity to address the pandemic, reported The Himalayan Times.

Commending the US leadership in garnering collaborative response against the global pandemic, Gyawali requested the US deputy secretary of state to accord due priority to Nepal in the course of its intended distribution of surplus vaccine doses among developing nations.

Deputy Secretary Sherman assured that the new US Administration would continue to extend cooperation in Nepal's socioeconomic sector, including the recent battle against the pandemic.

While expressing satisfaction over the overall state of Nepal-US relations, the two sides agreed to enhance bilateral and multilateral engagements in their mutual interests, reported The Himalayan Times.

They also agreed to accelerate economic partnerships in view of the uphill task of post-COVID recovery, it reported further.

US announced recently that it will donate 80 million US vaccines - the 60 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines previously announced and at least an additional 20 million doses of US authorized vaccines by the end of June. President Joe Biden said this commitment is part of leading an international and coordinated vaccination effort to respond to Covid-19 around the world.

Meanwhile, the telephone call between Gyawali and Sherman also discussed various matters concerning Nepal-US relations, cooperation in the context of the coronavirus and common international agendas.

Nepal has reported 7,220 new cases of coronavirus infection from across the country. With this, the nationwide coronavirus infection count has climbed to 520,461, on Monday, as per the Health Ministry.

( With inputs from ANI )

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