The long wait of the elderly citizens for the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine has finally ended on Monday. The government has started inoculating the citizens aged above 65 years who were administered the first dose with Covishield vaccine from March 7 to March 23, with AstraZeneca vaccine as the second dose. The senior citizens had desperately been waiting for the second dose of Covishield for more than four months after they were inoculated the vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India. As the Serum Institute could not supply the remaining one million doses of Covishield owing to an export ban imposed by the Indian government on its vaccine manufacturing companies, Nepal government has ultimately decided to use the AstraZeneca vaccine as the second dose instead of Covishield. Since the people are receiving the AstraZeneca as the second dose in place of the Covishield, they have some fears and confusions about it.

However, health experts have tried to clear the confusion and uncertainty. According to them, the composition of both Covishield and AstraZeneca is the same, only the manufacturers are different. So, the effectiveness of AstraZeneca would not be less despite the delay in receiving it as the second dose. The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is not totally over. But the fears and alertness on the outbreak of third wave has already begun. The number of COVID-19 cases has been increasing in the past few weeks. Health experts from across the world have said that the coronavirus be over in the near future. Maybe we will have to confront additional waves of COVID-19 before we develop permanent herd immunity against the virus. So, vaccination is the only alternative to save people from the deadly pandemic. The government had launched its maiden vaccination drive on January 27 after it received one million doses of Covishield vaccine from India under grant assistance.

Till date, over four million people have received the first dose of vaccines while around two million have been fully vaccinated till date. Currently, only adult population above age of 18 is being inoculated in Nepal. Many countries have already started vaccinating their population aged between 12 and 18. So, the government should formulate an extensive plan to immunise all its people including the young populace. According to the Health Ministry, the coronavirus has infected around 56 thousand in Nepal under 18 years till date. That is why the government should initiate a drive to immunise its younger population as well. According to the government plan, additional 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines would be procured by mid-October.

Similarly, the government would bring 30 million doses of vaccines by mid-April of next year. More than three million doses of Vero Cell vaccines and around 1.5 million doses of Janssen vaccines have been procured in July only. Recently, Japan has donated AstraZeneca vaccines that are being inoculated to the elderly citizens. Consequently, the vaccination drive is on full move across the country. However, it is reportedly facing some management problems. In some cases, unspecified lot of people is receiving vaccines on the basis of connections. Crowds and serpentine lines is another problem at the vaccination centres that pose the threat of virus transmission. So, the current inoculation drive should be managed more systematically in such a way that deserving class of people gets them with convenience while those who are not eligible will have to wait their turn.