Kathmandu: Nepal government on Wednesday granted emergency use approval to a Covid-19 vaccine developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co Ltd. (BIBP) in China under Sinopharm.

Nepal has already granted approval for AstraZeneca's Covishield vaccine on January 15.

Department of Drug Administration of Nepal on Wednesday decided to issue a conditional permission for emergency use authorisation to the vaccine, according to the administration press statement.

By providing the emergency use authorisation, the department paves the way to bring Shinopharm's vaccine in Nepal. China has decided to provide 500,000 doses of BBIBP-CorV vaccine, developed by Sinopharm, under grant assistance.

However, Nepal has received one million doses of Covid vaccine from India on third week of January, while decided to procure another two million vaccines from Serum Institute of India on a subsidy rate.