Covid-19 vaccination drive all set to begin in Nepal from tomorrow

KATHMANDU: The Government of Nepal is all set to start its Covid-19 vaccination campaign from Wednesday, January 27. As per the Ministry of Health’s vaccination roll-out plan, foremost in line to receive the vaccines are frontline workers.

Health workers and staffers, security personnel, ambulance drivers, sanitation workers, persons involved in management of bodies of the infected persons, health volunteers, among other frontline workers would be vaccinated in the first phase.

The India manufactured Covishield, one million doses of which have been provided to Nepal by India in aid, is being administered by the government on the aforementioned group. Covishield is the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine which is manufactured locally by the Serum Institute of India.

Around 430,000 people will receive the vaccine during first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive in Nepal, which will last for about ten days. Vaccines have started reaching the seven provinces of the country.

Over 35,000 people including 34,851 health workers and staffers, women health volunteers of government, and private hospitals under Province 1 would be administered the Covid-19 vaccine.

Likewise, the doses of vaccine have reached Karnali Province. More than 11,500 doses — which were stored in Nepalgunj — were taken to Surkhet of Karnali Province on Monday. According to Provincial Health Services Directorate, the vaccines would be administered by converting 12 hospitals of Karnali into vaccination centres.

Likewise, Province 2 government — that has received 34,000 doses of the vaccine — will begin the vaccination drive in all eight districts from Wednesday. Chief Minister Lal Babu Raut will inaugurate the campaign at Birgunj-based Narayani Hospital, Provincial Minister for Internal Affairs and Law Gyanendra Kumar Yadav will do the same at Provincial Hospital in Janakpurdham, and Minister of Social Development Nawal Kishor Sah at Rajbiraj-based Gajendra Narayan Singh Hospital.

With the completion of first phase of the drive, the government will move forward to the second phase, the details of which Ministry of Health is yet to make public.

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