The drug regulator in Nepal has granted emergency use approval to the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine developed by a Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical firm, reported The Kathmandu Post. 

The Department of Drug Administration, in a meeting of the Drug Advisory Committee, on Tuesday took the decision. The approval came weeks after China announced donating 500,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to the Himalayan nation. 

Earlier, on 15 January, the country had authorized the use of Covishield, a vaccine developed Astra-Zeneca and manufactured by Serum Institute of India. The vaccination drive is already underway in Nepal using the 1 million doses of Covishield that India had donated to Nepal last month. 

On 30 January, Sinopharm had announced 79.34 percent efficiency of its vaccine. However, the UAE, which has also been using the same vaccine, said it was 86 percent effective.