Kathmandu, May 7. On Thursday, Former US Ambassador to Nepal H.E. Scott H. DeLisi and the presidents of five other organizations jointly issued an open letter to the US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and the White house. 

Through the collectively written letter, the organization heads urged Biden’s administration to provide immediate assistance for COVID management in Nepal. 

The letter highlights the following points:

• Nepal’s viral reproduction rate is accelerating at a faster rate than that of India. As many as 80% of Covid tests are coming back positive. 

• There are less than 2000 ICU beds in the whole country. Most of the critical care facilities are already full. Experts fear that Nepal might suffer massive loss of human lives, the most severe in our lifetime. 

• Nepal currently has no means of internal vaccine production and thus must procure vaccines from other countries. Only 1 percent of the population is fully vaccinated. Approximately 1.7 million of those who received the first dose are at risk of defaulting on the second dose due to the vaccine stock out. 

  

The letter humbly requests the US government to immediately export vaccines to Nepal that would save tens of thousands of lives. “Exporting the vaccines from the U.S. will not only help other countries like Nepal, but also prevent future outbreaks at home,” the letter reads.

The organizations also request Biden’s administration to supply vital oxygen related equipment including oxygen producing units and essential hospital supplies for frontline health workers and patients. 

The corresponding U.S. officials and government agencies are as follows:

1. The Honorable Antony J. Blinken (U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC)
2. The Honorable Bob Menendez (Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Washington, D.C.)
3. The Honorable James E. Risch (Ranking Member, Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate, Washington, D.C.)
4. The Honorable Chris Murphy (Chairman, Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism, Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Washington, D.C.)
5. The Honorable Todd Young (Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate)

The letter was written on behalf of 350,000 concerned Nepali diaspora communities living in the US. Click here to read the “Open Letter”.