Uttam Maharjan

At present, vaccination is considered the last resort when it comes to developing herd immunity in most of the people to end the COVID-19 pandemic. It is encouraging to note that many kinds of vaccines are being developed and rolled out across the world. In this regard, the World Health Organisation (WHO) deserves kudos for working relentlessly in the field of developing and distributing vaccines in collaboration with partners across the world.
The COVAX initiative established by the WHO in collaboration with GAVI and CEPI has held out a ray of hope for poor countries. However, the COVAX initiative has hit a snag. The WHO has planned to inoculate twenty per cent of the populations living in 92 poorer countries. The inability of India to supply Covishield vaccines to the COVAX facility has been a great blow to the WHO.

Flicker of hope
Under such adverse circumstances, a flicker of hope has emerged on the horizon. Recently, the WHO has approved the Sinovac vaccine manufactured in China for emergency use. The vaccine has already been in use in several countries – Brazil, Chile, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand and Turkey. Like the Covishield vaccine, the Sinovac vaccine is suitable for poor countries as it can be stored at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius. The vaccine can be administered to people above 18 years of age with the second dose to be given two to four weeks later. At a time when the WHO is facing a shortage of vaccines, China has announced it would produce three billion doses by the end of this year has buoyed up the spirits of the WHO.
It is gratifying to note that the heads of the WHO, WTO, IMF and WB have appealed for the establishment of a fifty billion US dollar investment fund in order to fight COVID-19. They have noted that the world has reached a perilous point and inequalities in access to vaccines risk prolonging the pandemic and leading to many more deaths. They have therefore called for huge investments in vaccine production, oxygen supplies and treatments. They have also advocated fair and equitable distribution of vaccines around the world. After all, nobody is safe, until everybody is safe.
It is reported that wealthy countries have hoarded vaccines in excess of their requirements. The heads of the aforementioned world bodies have urged wealthy countries to release excess vaccines for use in poor countries. In fact, the survival of the COVAX initiative depends on assistance from wealthy countries. They should help the COVAX facility with resources, technology and knowhow as well as with data sharing.
Vaccination has its own importance. At the same time, adhering to health safety protocols is also equally important. The effectiveness of vaccines is still being studied. To what extent vaccines provide protection against the coronavirus, infection and transmission is still unknown. As such, health safety rules like social distancing, avoiding crowds or gatherings or hand hygiene should be strictly followed. There is a tendency on the part of vaccinated people to adopt a devil-may-care attitude towards the coronavirus, thinking that they will not contract the disease. In fact, they may also contract the disease but the disease will be mild. Further, such people may act as vectors of the disease, posing a threat to others.
Nepal has been facing a shortage of vaccines since Indian Institute of Serum (IIS), the largest drugmaker in the world, stopped exporting vaccines abroad. India gave one million doses of Covishield to Nepal in January, which enabled the country to initiate the vaccination drive. The country then struck a deal with IIS for the procurement of two million doses, out of which the country received one million doses. In the meantime, India hesitated to give the remaining one million doses to the country, citing a shortage of doses in their own country. This has left the vaccination programme in the country stranded. However, a little over 800,000 doses recently provided for the country by China have proved to be a boon.

Covishield’s effectiveness
The Covishield vaccine is suitable for Nepal. It can be stored at a normal temperature of 2-8 degrees Celsius. No sophisticated cold storage facility is required to store such vaccines. Some vaccines need to be stored at minus 72 degrees Celsius. The country does not have such facilities. The Covishield vaccine, like most other vaccines, needs to be administered in two doses to maintain its effectiveness. The first doses were administered to people in large numbers, hoping that procurement of additional doses would not be a sticking point. However, something unexpected happened when the doses produced in India turned out to be inadequate. As things stand, India will not give vaccines to Nepal any time soon.
There are around 1.5 million people in Nepal waiting for the second jab. As there is a slim chance of getting additional doses from India, the government approached other countries like the USA, the UK, China and Russia about procuring vaccines. Happily, China has already provided the country with a little over 800,000 doses and the UK has offered to give two million doses to the country. The USA has also announced that it will provide seven million vaccines for Asian countries, including Nepal.
The efforts of the government to procure vaccines through political or diplomatic channels are praiseworthy. Prime Minister KP Sharma has announced that the government will vaccinate all the people before the elections take place in November. Let's hope that all the people will get jabs within this year and be able to keep the coronavirus at bay.

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