Vaccines and Non-Disclosure Agreements
A Nepal Airlines plane successfully brought 800,000 doses of Vero cell vaccines from Beijing on the morning of 9th July. According to Health Ministry officials, flights have also been scheduled for July 15 and July 22, to bring a total of 4 million doses of the vaccines in the three flights. The success of bringing the vaccines has been overshadowed by the controversy of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that Nepal signed with Sinopharm to bring the vaccine.
Non-disclosure agreements have become a “routine procedure” in vaccine procurements during the Covid-19 pandemic amidst vaccine shortages. However, in Nepal, questions remain firstly over the legality of the procedure; Nepal’s laws do not allow provisions of non-disclosure agreements in public procurement during normal times. Secondly, the overwhelming public concern is the glaring possibility of corruption that the non-disclosure agreement allows. This suspicion has some credence based on the fact that a huge corruption case was uncovered previously during the procurement of PPEs.
Lastly and more importantly, it shows the strength of our diplomatic relations with China. As reported by the Kathmandu post the price of the vaccine is not disclosed yet but is said to be around $10 per dose. This meanwhile has caused a massive stir on the Chinese side; Sinopharm communicated its displeasure at the publicization of the vaccine procurement by the Government of Nepal while the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu also reminded the Foreign Ministry of the nature of the deal.
There had previously been an uproar in Sri Lanka when it was reported that Sri Lanka had to pay $15 for one dose of the vaccine; 5 dollars higher than another South Asian country Bangladesh. And, even though prices are sure to fluctuate due to the actual demand and supply of the vaccines, if the Kathmandu post reports are to be believed, Nepal seems to have gotten the better side of the deal similar to Bangladesh.
Nepal has so far only paid for vaccines once, buying 2 million doses from the Serum Institute of India, at $4 per dose, of which only half has been delivered. The Chinese vaccines are comparatively expensive but the NDA seems to be a bigger source of concern among the Nepali populace. However, it needs to be understood that NDAs are commonplace while buying vaccines during this pandemic from both Eastern and Western companies. It also allows vaccine supplying countries to have price differentiations while supplying vaccines to different countries.
However, being able to shell out less money for vaccines shows the diplomatic strength of the receiving country and the strength of the relations between the two countries. Mostly for a country like Nepal, which has had to depend on foreign aid to even be able to procure vaccines, being able to buy it for cheaper means more people get vaccinated, and the pandemic is contained faster.
Nepal is already in the process of getting vaccines through the NDA from China. And although Nepali government officials have shown that they have been easily corrupted even in a crisis, the issue of resolving the covid crisis has become more important. Under the cover of NDAs, Nepal can work with vaccine manufacturing nations, using the diplomatic relations it has built to date, to get vaccines faster and cheaper to be able to save its citizens from the ongoing pandemic.
First published in Nepal Institute for Policy Research’s blog.
