China has announced that it will provide half a million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to Nepal.

During a phone call with his Nepali counterpart Pradeep Kumar Gyawali on Friday evening, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced that Beijing will provide the 500,000 doses in a grant.

During the call, the two Ministers discussed vaccine-related cooperation among others, according to the Foreign Ministry of Nepal.

Gyawali said that the Nepali government and people are grateful for China's timely and valuable vaccine aid.

Earlier this week, the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu had announced that it would provide 300,000 vaccines to the Himalayan nation.

But Nepali authorities have not given approval to any vaccine other than Covishield vaccine developed by University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, the Swedish-British pharmaceutical giant.

Last month, India provided one million COVID-19 vaccines with which frontline health workers and other personnel like cleaners and ambulance drivers were vaccinated across the country.

Following the Chinese embassy's announcement, the Department of Drug Administration said that it has asked for the necessary documents from the producer of the Chinese vaccine before it gives approval.

(IANS)