Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will increase the number of covid-19 vaccinations supplied to Nepal.

Our G7 Presidency championed equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics and we will share 100 million doses within the next year, 30 million of those by the end of 2021, and begin to share the first 5 million doses in the coming weeks. 80% of the vaccines shared will go to COVAX, the multilateral mechanism set up to support international co-operation on vaccines. COVAX remains best-placed to allocate vaccines where they will be most effective. We have already begun discussions to ensure the first 5 million doses are shared by the end of September. Going forward, decisions on which vaccines will be shared will be based on the continued reliability of supply chains, regulatory restrictions and advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Nepal has already received 348,000 vaccine doses through COVAX with further tranches on the way.