KATHMANDU: The Government of Israel has dispatched over half a million syringes to support immunization efforts in Nepal.

This is in addition to the earlier contribution to support the Government of Nepal to fight against COVID-19. The syringes will be used with the COVID vaccine to vaccinate communities in Nepal.

The consignment of 563 thousand syringes arrived via air freight Tuesday, the Embassy of Israel in Kathmandu said through a press release.

Ambassador of Israel to Nepal Hanan Goder handed over syringes to the representatives of Ministry of Health and Population, Government of Nepal.

Ambassador Goder said, “This is part of the international struggle against the pandemic. Israel is proud to cooperate with the Nepali efforts in this struggle.” He said: “The Embassy of Israel is happy to share humanitarian aid with the people of Nepal as an act of solidarity between our two nations. We believe that this gesture would contribute meeting 2022 Vaccination targets and bringing the pandemic under control.”

Since the last two years, the Government of Israel has been supporting Nepal in its effort to fight COVID-19. The Embassy handed over medical supplies (including Personal Protective Equipment, masks, digital thermometers, surgical gloves, had sanitizers, disinfectant solutions) to the Ministry of Health and Population in June 2020.

In July 2020, the Embassy also dispatched similar medical supplies to the Ministry of Social Development in Province 2. In May 2021, a chartered flight of Nepal Airlines carried 22 tons of medical cargo from Israel. The supplies included ventilators, oxygen concentrators and other medical equipment.

Likewise, the Embassy had handed medical equipment related to Covid to Dhulikhel, Patan and Bir Hospitals and Covid prevention materials to the Nepal Police in 2021.