Nepal : Responsive COVID-19 Vaccines for Recovery Project under the Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility
The project will support the procurement and delivery of safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19 through APVAX's RRC in compliance with ADB's vaccine eligibility criteria to the country. It aims to finance the procurement of about 15.9 million doses of vaccines, which will be administered to about 6.8 million Nepalese by 2024, with data collected and disaggregated by sex and age.
Project Details
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Project Officer
Van Dael, Rudi Louis Hendrikus
South Asia Department
Request for information -
Country/Economy
Nepal -
Sector
- Health
| Project Name | Responsive COVID-19 Vaccines for Recovery Project under the Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility | ||||
| Project Number | 55084-001 | ||||
| Country / Economy | Nepal |
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| Project Status | Active | ||||
| Project Type / Modality of Assistance | Loan |
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| Source of Funding / Amount |
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| Operational Priorities | OP1: Addressing remaining poverty and reducing inequalities OP2: Accelerating progress in gender equality OP7: Fostering regional cooperation and integration |
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| Sector / Subsector | Health / Disease control of communicable disease |
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| Gender | Effective gender mainstreaming | ||||
| Description | The project will support the procurement and delivery of safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19 through APVAX's RRC in compliance with ADB's vaccine eligibility criteria to the country. It aims to finance the procurement of about 15.9 million doses of vaccines, which will be administered to about 6.8 million Nepalese by 2024, with data collected and disaggregated by sex and age. | ||||
| Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy | Since the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Nepal on 27 January 2020, 591,494 cases have been confirmed and 7,990 people have died from the virus as of 7 June 2021. The pandemic resulted in high costs to the country's overall health, well-being, and economy. The disease's infection rate previously peaked in October 2020 with a monthly average test positivity rate of more than 24%. After a subsequent decline, Nepal has been facing a second wave since April 2021, with test positivity above 45%. The crisis is compounded by the country's severe lack of qualified health care workers; there are reports of one nurse caring for 20 critically ill patients. Recognizing the need for vaccination, the government acted swiftly to roll out inoculations starting 27 January 2021. More than 2 million (2,113,080) people received the first dose and 691,494 the second dose by 7 June 2021. Nepal aims to inoculate 71.62% of its population. However, it has not secured a pipeline for vaccines and faces significant financing gaps for vaccine procurement. The government requires timely financial support to procure safe and effective vaccines and limit the adverse impacts of the pandemic. | ||||
| Impact | Accelerated health, social, and economic recovery from COVID-19 in Nepal. |
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| Project Outcome | |
|---|---|
| Description of Outcome | Target populations safely vaccinated against COVID-19 |
| Progress Toward Outcome | As of 15 March 2022, Nepal vaccinated 81.9% of its population over 18 years, and 78.64% of its population over 12 years. In total over 18 million people were vaccinated. |
| Implementation Progress | |
| Description of Project Outputs | Safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines delivered |
| Status of Implementation Progress (Outputs, Activities, and Issues) | Progress towards the outputs is mixed. Nepal received in total 47.884 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from various sources, and has sufficient vaccines. 5.937 million vaccines were procured with ADB financing, which is only 37% of the original target. It is not expected that more vaccines will be procured. 90.47% of total received vaccines have been delivered to all provinces and used, whereas 9.93% are in stock and stored in the cold chain. With regard to other targets over 93% of all the Female Community Health Volunteers were vaccinated in 2021, based on a telephone survey. On vaccine awareness, more than 80% percent of the population reported wearing a mask during the holiday or festival season. Given the high rate of vaccination, awareness remains high. The vaccination campaign is a big success, a main challenge is to reach the final unvaccinated people and health care waste management. |
| Geographical Location | Nation-wide |
| Safeguard Categories | |
|---|---|
| Environment | C |
| Involuntary Resettlement | C |
| Indigenous Peoples | C |
| Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects | |
|---|---|
| Environmental Aspects | The project supports the procurement and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines at the delivery points in the country. It will not entail any activities with the potential to cause adverse environmental impacts. However, the administration of vaccines will generate biomedical waste, which will require safe treatment and disposal. ADB carried out due diligence of the current health care waste management (HCWM) status in the country and the plans to strengthen HCWM. The results of this due diligence is recorded in a due diligence report. ADB together with other partners will support through TA the strengthening of HCWM. |
| Involuntary Resettlement | The project will not require any land acquisition or lead to any involuntary resettlement impacts. Improved medical waste management will not result in civil works under the project. |
| Indigenous Peoples | While indigenous (janajati) communities are present in the country, they will not be targeted as a group of distinct and vulnerable indigenous peoples, as defined by ADB's indigenous peoples safeguard policies. The project will ensure that members of indigenous people groups will not be excluded and will not suffer any disadvantages in targeting because they belong to an indigenous people group. The Government of Nepal treats all citizens with equal significance, and this is reflected in the vaccination program. |
| Stakeholder Communication, Participation, and Consultation | |
| During Project Design | ADB closely coordinated with key development partners involved in the health sector, especially with those supporting the vaccination campaign, on risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) activities to inform all Nepali, with special attention to the poor and vulnerable, on the risks of the COVID-19 pandemic and the benefits of and access to vaccination using a variety of communication tools and techniques, including consultation. |
| During Project Implementation | Civil society organizations will raise awareness about the vaccine to all Nepali, with special attention to women, poor, and vulnerable groups, through RCCE activities implemented by UNICEF and partially funded by ADB TA. |
| Business Opportunities | |
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| Procurement | Procurement will be undertaken in a manner consistent with simplified and expedient procedures permitted under the ADB's Procurement Policy (2017, as amended from time to time) and Procurement Regulations for ADB Borrowers (2017, as amended from time to time). Since the project will be financed under APVAX, ADB member eligibility restrictions will be waived and universal procurement will apply. The procurement of vaccine may be done through (i) Accessing additional vaccines through COVAX; (ii) Engaging UNICEF or other UN agencies to support procurement of vaccines outside COVAX; (iii) Entering into direct bilateral deals with vaccine manufacturers; and (iv) Entering into Government to Government (G2G) contract for procuring vaccines. ADB will prior review all agreements. Value for money in procurement will be achieved by (i) Selecting vaccines that are best suited to domestic supply chain; and (ii) the recommended procurement strategy involves entering into service contract with UNICEF outside COVAX facilities as UNICEF is best positioned to manage vaccine purchasing complexities and the intricate logistics requirements for these temperature-sensitive items and UNICEF has been assisting for a long period in supporting the vaccine procurement for Nepal's National Child Immunization Program. ADB's Anticorruption Policy (1998, as amended to date) will apply to all contracts to be financed under the loan. |
| Responsible ADB Officer | Van Dael, Rudi Louis Hendrikus |
| Responsible ADB Department | South Asia Department |
| Responsible ADB Division | Nepal Resident Mission (NRM) |
| Executing Agencies |
Ministry of Finance |
| Timetable | |
|---|---|
| Concept Clearance | 01 Jan 2023 |
| Fact Finding | 12 Apr 2021 to 30 Apr 2021 |
| MRM | 26 May 2021 |
| Approval | 22 Jul 2021 |
| Last Review Mission | - |
| Last PDS Update | 12 Jul 2022 |
Loan 4088-NEP
| Milestones | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approval | Signing Date | Effectivity Date | Closing | ||
| Original | Revised | Actual | |||
| 22 Jul 2021 | 11 Aug 2021 | 26 Aug 2021 | 31 Jan 2025 | - | - |
| Financing Plan | Loan Utilization | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (Amount in US$ million) | Date | ADB | Others | Net Percentage | |
| Project Cost | 165.00 | Cumulative Contract Awards | |||
| ADB | 165.00 | 26 Jul 2023 | 83.45 | 0.00 | 51% |
| Counterpart | 0.00 | Cumulative Disbursements | |||
| Cofinancing | 0.00 | 26 Jul 2023 | 84.07 | 0.00 | 51% |
| Status of Covenants | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Sector | Safeguards | Social | Financial | Economic | Others |
| Rating | Satisfactory | Satisfactory | Satisfactory | Partly satisfactory | - | Unsatisfactory |
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Related Publications
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ADB Approves $165 Million Loan for COVID-19 Vaccines in Nepal
The Asian Development Bank has approved a loan of $165 million for the Government of Nepal to purchase safe and effective vaccines against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Tenders
Contracts Awarded
Procurement Plan
| Title | Document Type | Document Date |
|---|---|---|
| Responsive COVID-19 Vaccines for Recovery Project under the Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility: Procurement Plan | Procurement Plans | Jun 2021 |