Uttam Maharjan

It is virtually a medical miracle that the COVID-19 vaccine has been developed within a year of the emergence of virus outbreak in late 2019. With the rollout of vaccines developed by several pharmaceutical companies in India, China, Russia, the UK and the USA, a global vaccination campaign, which is the biggest inoculation campaign of its kind in living memory, has kicked off. COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to over 63 million people in 56 nations around the world. And the numbers are increasing day by day.
The development of vaccines is an achievement per se but the challenge of making them available to every country is still formidable. Further, many countries have their own hassles of storing, distributing and administering such vaccines. The WHO is concerned about the fair and equitable distribution of vaccines to every country, be it rich or poor. But as things stand, rich countries have the whip hand over their poor counterparts as far as receiving vaccines is concerned. Rich countries have received or ordered vaccines in large quantities from pharmaceutical companies at the expense of poor countries. It is to be kept in mind that nobody will be safe if everybody is not free from the virus. So vaccines should be made available to every country around the world.
Unfair distribution
The USA is leading the vaccine administration with over 21 million followed by China with 15 million. Many countries have not received vaccines. It is an irony that while rich countries have received doses in large quantities, Guinea has received just 55 doses. This is where the WHO has expressed its concern. The world body wants that every country receive a fair whack of doses but it is easier said than done.
There are two groups of people as far as administering vaccines is concerned. One group is in favour of vaccination (vacctivists), while the other is against it (anti-vaxxers). Anti-vaxxers claim that vaccination against any disease is harmful. Perhaps they think that any disease, COVID-19 included, should be allowed to run its course. As far as the administration of COVID-19 vaccines is concerned, there are reports that a very few of those who have received the jabs have developed reactions, or anaphylaxis. There is also news of deaths associated with the jabs.
Anti-COVID-19 vaccines can give rise to side effects like fever, chills, nausea, headache, inflammation, pain at the injection site and myalgia. The development of such reactions is normal and desirable as it shows that the immune system is responding to the vaccine. One of the rare reactions is adenitis (swelling of glands) a few days after the administration of the vaccine. The swelling can last up to two weeks. In light of serious anaphylaxis that may develop in the elderly with underlying conditions, such people should not get vaccines.
Some deaths associated with the jabs have also been reported. Norway has reported the death of the elderly with underlying conditions after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Vaccine-related deaths have also been reported in Germany and India. However, millions of Pfizer-BioNTech doses have been administered in the USA, the UK and elsewhere without any adverse side effects.
At a time when countries around the world are struggling to get vaccines, Nepal received one million doses from India on January 21. The doses are developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca and manufactured by Serum Institute of India. The vaccine is said to be 70 per cent effective. India is one of the leading drugmakers in the world. India has already embarked upon a massive inoculation campaign. The aforesaid doses have been received by Nepal under grant assistance. India has put its neighbouring countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal and the Seychelles - on its priority list. Upon receiving regulatory clearances, Afghanistan, Mauritius and Sri Lanka will also get the doses.
India is planning to supply the vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech later. The Covaxin vaccine is now under controversy. It is said that not enough trials have been conducted to prove its effectiveness. Nepal has planned to inoculate 72 per cent of its population. The new batch of doses is enough for 500,000 people as everybody is required to take two doses, assuming that there will be no wastage of any doses. The just received doses will be administered to front-line workers: healthcare workers, janitorial staff working in health facilities, security personnel, ambulance drivers and hearse drivers. The government says that it has made full preparations for the administration of COVID-19 doses.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is suitable for Nepal as it can be stored at two to eight degrees Celsius temperatures unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which needs to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius or the Moderna vaccine, which needs to be stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius.

Vaccine procurement
Nepal is also receiving vaccines enough for 20 per cent of its population from the Covax facility. The government is mulling procuring remaining vaccines from other procedures such as the G-to-G process, public procurement procedures or contracts with drugmakers. The government has intended to inoculate all people barring children aged up to 14. However, they will get COVID-19 jabs according to the priority set by the government. The first priority has been given to front-line workers followed by the elderly over 55 years of age and people with underlying conditions. Thereafter, the rest of the population will be inoculated against the viral contagion. After all, COVID-19 jabs are shots in the arm, both literally and figuratively.

(Former banker, Maharjan has been regularly writing on contemporary issues for this daily since 2000. uttam.maharjan1964@gmail.com)