Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what criteria they used when deciding to donate 131,000 doses of Astra-Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine bilaterally to the government of Nepal; and what were the reasons for those criteria.

The UK is a leading donor to COVAX, the multilateral mechanism set up to support international co-operation on vaccines. We are donating a smaller quantity to bilateral partners and countries. The main objective of any donation is to promote the economic development and welfare of the recipient country, though we will also seek to strengthen key relationships, in line with the Integrated Review. Decisions are taken on a case by case basis, when vaccines are available to be donated.

The UK has provided £548 million to COVID, which has shipped over 610 million doses to144 participants, including 4.3 million doses to Nepal. As G7 chair the UK also secured commitment to donate 1 billion doses to the developing world by June 2022, including 100 million donated by the UK. The majority of these doses will be donated to COVAX, which remains best-placed to allocate vaccines to where they will be most effective. The UK also funds the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank whose finance has enabled the Government of Nepal to purchase vaccines. This financing together with COVAX supplies can vaccinate 70% of the population of Nepal.