The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread in the community despite the fact that the country enforced extended restrictions during its first wave and five-month-long prohibitory order during the second wave. On average, around 32 people are dying of virus daily while the number of cases has not gone down significantly. Health experts have stated that the ongoing infections and deaths are the continuation of the second wave and they have warned of the arrival of third wave after mid-October when the country marks the big festival of Dashain. Now many COVID-designated hospitals are packed with coronavirus patients, which are also seen as the prelude to the third wave. The emergence of new mutants of the virus has posed a challenge to both the medical science and the governments across the world. Achieving full herd immunity can help keep the virus at bay. But this is possible only when most of the population is vaccinated.

The recent infections show that the persons who have received the double doses of COVID-19 vaccines have also caught the virus. In some cases, even vaccinated people have experienced acute symptoms of the disease. This reality gives us a clear message – people should continue to follow health safety measures to contain the virus spread no matter whether they have been inoculated or not. The optimistic part is that the health infrastructure has been greatly enhanced and the COVID-19 patients are getting well-treated in time. The upgraded health facilities will enable the government to deal with the third wave effectively. In view of the possible resurgence of the third wave, the vaccination drive is taking place in full swing so that it will not infect and claim the lives of unvaccinated people.

People had a fear whether the battle against COVID-19 will be affected with the change of the guard in government. However, this sort of doubt has been proved wrong. The government led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has attached top priority to vaccinating the entire population. The vaccination campaign is now taking place on a war footing. According to the news report of this daily, around 13 per cent of total population has received both doses of vaccine while 16.8 per cent have received their first dose. Around 4.8 million people have been vaccinated in the past five weeks. Giving importance to the public health, the government had announced that it will immunise 33 per cent of the population by mid-September. It plans to administer free vaccines to all eligible citizens by mid-April next year.

Meanwhile, it has become necessary to inoculate the paediatric population as they are more vulnerable to the third wave. There is no concrete evidence to prove that children are susceptible to the virus during its potential third wave but various studies have shown that they may develop fewer antibodies as compared to adults, putting them at risk of getting infected. This is a reason why the Ministry of Health and Population, on June 5, had instructed all hospitals to allocate 20 per cent of their beds for the treatment of the virus-infected minors. At the moment, the country has no vaccines for children. The government has planned to inoculate the children aged above 12 from January 2022 as it is going to receive four million Moderna vaccines by that time. Vaccination to all children will also help run schools smoothly.