By Ajita Rijal
Kathmandu, Feb. 19: The vaccination campaign against COVID-19 is in progress across the nation. With the arrival of one million doses of Covidhield vaccine from India, the nation started the vaccination campaign from January 27.
In addition to the grant doses, the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has already paid some amount in advance to India’s Serum Institute to buy two million doses of ‘Covishield’ vaccines.
The vaccines will arrive from India within two weeks, said Minister for Health and Population Hridayesh Tripathi. After the arrival of the jabs, the government will vaccinate senior citizens aged above 60 years, said Minister Tripathi.
Nepal has also granted a conditional emergency approval for Sinopharm, the coronavirus vaccine manufactured by China’s Beijing Institute of Biological Products. China has pledged to provide 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine under grant assistance to Nepal.
In addition, the government is expecting 2.2 million doses of vaccines from the COVAX programme of the World Health Organisation within end of February.
At the first phase of the first prioritised group, just 184,857 of the targeted 430,000 persons got immunised. Following this, the MoHP decided to inoculate journalists in the Kathmandu Valley and those working at diplomatic missions.
On Sunday, the MoHP started immunising the third group of people, which includes those working in financial institutions, health workers, journalists working outside the valley, and elected representatives and employees of the local levels is estimated to number 300,000. As the government is working to avail sufficient amount of the vaccine and planning to inoculate all citizens as per the prioritised list, health experts urged everyone to participate the campaign.
Vaccines are only way to keep COVID-19 at bay, this is what everyone must understand, said doctors.
Health experts have said that COVID-19 vaccination will protect people from being infected with COVID-19. A COVID-19 vaccine might prevent individuals from getting COVID-19 or from becoming seriously ill or dying due to the virus, prevent you from spreading the virus to others and add to the number of people in the community who are protected from getting COVID-19.
“You will be safest at one level if you get vaccinated,” said Dr. Anup Bastola, chief consultant at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital in Teku. The vaccines are the only way followed by observation of health protocols to end the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.
No one should go after public skepticism and lingering doubts about safety of COVID-19 vaccines, said Dr. Kedar Baral, a public health expert.
Only government’s work is not enough at the time of pandemic, public are equally responsible to participate for its mitigation, said Dr. Baral and added that encouraging each other for inoculation plays a vital role in successful vaccination drive.
Vaccine is a bullet intervention to fight the pandemic, said Dr. Baral and added everyone must trust its efficacy.
No one should be reluctant to being vaccinated when the government is providing it free of cost, added Dr. Baral.