Gauri Pradhan

COVID-19 is a global health emergency. It took quite some time to develop the vaccines to curb the pandemic. However, COVID vaccines, in comparison to other vaccines in the past, have arrived quite quickly in Nepal. Thanks to our great neighbours India and China that respectively provided one million doses and 800,000 doses of vaccines to Nepal. It has also received 348,000 doses of Covishield with the support of the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF and other concerned organisation. Under the first COVAX allocation, the COVAX Facility will deliver 1.92 million doses of vaccine to Nepal by the end of May 2021.
However, the availability of the vaccines is far below the demand. Nepal is in the urgent need of vaccines at the moment. Let us hope that the COVAX initiative will undoubtedly help fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the world's developing countries, including Nepal. The WHO deserves appreciation for facilitating poor countries to access the COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, which includes the COVID-19 Global Vaccine Access Facility (COVAX).
Now the term ‘vaccine diplomacy’ is gaining currency in the international relations. In February 2021, half a million doses of the Chinese vaccine, Sinopharm, first arrived in Pakistan and then in 13 other countries, including Cambodia, Equatorial Guinea, Nepal, the Philippines, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. India has also given the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccines to its regional neighbours, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal. Russia has likewise dispersed its Sputnik V vaccine to reaffirm its relations with the old and win new friends.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it has already donated vaccines to more than 70 developing countries in urgent need. Comparatively, Europe and North America have been in a "wait and see" strategy in providing vaccines to the poorer countries. China seems far ahead in exercising its vaccine diplomacy to build better relations with many emerging countries. The delay in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines by the western donor countries might lead to the loss of their connections with many nations in the long run.

Fair distribution
There has been intense debate on the equal and fair distribution of vaccines. Nevertheless, almost 80 per cent of vaccines produced are controlled by rich and emerging developed countries, while poorer countries are struggling to access them. The world's least developed countries (LDCs), home to the world's 14 per cent population, are crying for emergency help. In this catastrophic state of the pandemic, the powerful nations are not supposed to get engaged in the vaccine politics. On May 11, 2021, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took on vaccine diplomacy, slamming countries for life-saving jabs to gain competitive advantage rather than getting engaged in genuine cooperation to end the pandemic.
The pandemic has laid bare the unequal global power structure. Despite the increase in the number of billionaires in the rich and developed countries, the gap between rich and poor is widening every year. OXFAM's Inequality Report, Transparency International's Anti-corruption Report and Peace Report of Vision of Humanity in 2021 have all reiterated that inequality, corruption and instability are increasing globally. Poverty in general and inequalities of all kinds, including gender discrimination, are still prevalent at a grave state, though the degree of severity is gradually declining.
If the commitment of the rich countries to contribute 0.15 per cent of GDP to LDCs and 0.7 per cent of GDP to developing countries to fight poverty and render justice, the scenario we are facing today would have been quite different. Regrettably, the global economic enhancement share mainly concentrates on the richest and developed countries. Such a trend has caused a severe effect on LDCs, which have been facing extreme structural barriers to sustainable development and are highly vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks. To effectively address these countries' health crisis and financial breakdown, there is an urgent need to scale up systemic procedures by increasing health aid to LDCs, including Nepal.
The remarkable 7 per cent growth since August 2020 in COVID-19 funding to the LDCs symbolises the solidarity of the world's big nations. Donor countries and Bretton Woods institutions, including the World Bank, IMF and ADBs further need to review and revisit official development aid (ODA) and development debts to help enhance the capability of LDCs to fight the COVID-19 crisis. The ODA, as guided by UN and internationally agreed principles like Paris Principles on Aid effectiveness (2005) and Accra Agenda of Action (AAA-2008), needs to reexamine concretely. Besides, the world's rich countries and International Financial Institutions need to address the global voice by cancelling the over-burdened debt and debt relief.
Despite what the government claims, our preparation to fight the second wave of COVID-19 was grossly inadequate. There were severe management lapses in handling the current crisis. There is a massive lack of O2 gas, ICUs and HDUs beds in hospitals for both COVID and non-COVID patients. It is almost like a public health emergency. The pandemic has also hindered to achieve our national goal Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali. To survive such a pandemic and regain economic recovery, Nepal has to get support and solidarity from neighbouring countries, donor countries and other international development partners. For this, Nepal also needs to improve good governance and uphold accountability.

Solidarity
Nepal is not a member of any strategic and defence block. It has been trying its best to alter its land-locked status and become a land-linked nation by enhancing its connectivity in the changing world today. In recent years, Nepal has been raising its voice for international cooperation and solidarity to fight poverty and improve prosperity for its people. Therefore, Nepal has to move its vaccine diplomacy very carefully to get support from all the friendly and donor countries. As a member of an emerging lower-middle-income country, Nepal needs to join its voice with LDCs and G-77 non-aligned platforms for a fair share of COVID-19 vaccines for its people.
By maintaining a cordial relation with all kinds of strategic, economic and trade alliances, Nepal needs to extend its international collaboration to fight the COVID-19 crisis and achieve 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. When Nepal desperately fights the pandemic, all vaccines, approved by WHO, have become equally essential to save the people who are succumbing to virus in lack of oxygen. COVID-19 does not respect borders, and its variants are adding extra urgency. Let us call to all, including UN agencies, donors, humanitarian organisations and development partners and Nepali diasporas for their urgent help to overcome ongoing health crisis in Nepal. No one is safe until everyone is safe. We need to act now before it is too late.

(Pradhan is a human rights defender associated with LDC Watch International and Public Health Concern Trust (phect-NEPAL)