The Arab Sheikh who landed in Nepal with 2,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines as a gift

Nepal is investigating how a prince from Bahrain, who wants to climb Everest, arrived in the country with 2,000 doses of vaccines against the coronavirus without official approval, according to authorities.

The sheik Mohamad Hamad Mohamad Al Khalifa, who arrived in Kathmandu on Monday, intended to donate doses of the vaccine from AstraZeneca to a village, according to the embassy of Nepal in Bahrain.

The vaccine doses “entered without following the necessary procedure and without the prior approval of our office, we are investigating and will decide if they can be used,” Santosh KC, spokesman for the drug administration department, told AFP on Wednesday.

The prince and his team, which includes members of the Bahraini royal guard, were returning to Nepal, where in October they had already climbed two Himalayan peaks, Manaslu (8,163 m), the eighth highest in the world, and Lobuche (6,119 m).

Sheikh Mohamed Hamad Mohamed Al Khalifa, who plans to climb Mount Everest, poses with the vaccines he brought to Nepal. (Photo by NIshant S. GURUNG / AFP). (NISHANT S. GURUNG /)

The authorities then granted a special permission to the sheikh and his group to enter the country, despite the closure of the borders due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nepal has opened its borders to climbers, and the prince and his team were among the first to arrive.

The absence of foreign hikers and climbers has taken its toll on the economy of this poor country, where tourism accounts for 8% of GDP and generates more than a million jobs, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Nepal began its vaccination campaign in January, after receiving one million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from India.