Kathmandu, 7 March: Nepal has received its first consignment of Covid-19 vaccine doses shipped through the COVAX Facility, a partnership between CEPI, Gavi, UNICEF and WHO, made possible through generous donor support from governments, international organizations, foundations and the private sector. Nepal is the first Asian country  to receive Covid-19 vaccines from COVAX Facility. The delivery of COVAX-procured vaccines to Nepal is part of a historic step towards ensuring equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines globally, in what will be the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in history. The first COVAX shipment of 348,000 doses of AstraZeneca ‘Covishield’ vaccines manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), together with 350,000 syringes and 3500 vaccine safety boxes arrived in Kathmandu before being distributed to provinces and municipalities across the country, according to the Ministry of Health and Population. Representatives of the COVAX technical and funding partners joined the Minister of Health and Population, His Excellency Hridayesh Tripathi, in welcoming the global COVAX contribution to Nepal’s Covid-19 vaccination efforts at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu today. The COVAX Facility is generously funded by partner governments, including the Governments of Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union as well as foundations and corporations. People's News Monitoring Service