INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, APRIL 15In the last one year the government achieved remarkable success in
increasing COVID vaccine availability and building physical infrastructures to fight against the pandemic.
getting new COVID vaccine before poorer ones
India rolls out COVID vaccine
doses for children aged 12-14
The availability of
vaccine contributed tremendously to prevent and control coronavirus.
Nepal witnessed the second and third waves of
But the government made tremendous efforts to tackle the health crisis
The infrastructures created during the second wave of COVID-19 also helped a lot to cope with the crisis.Besides, the role of health workers
during the pandemic was praiseworthy.Secretary at Ministry of Health and Population Dr Roshan Pokharel observed, "This past year, remained
as a defining time for both challenges and opportunities
We, however, were able to face the challenges due to the untiring efforts of health workers."He also claimed that most of the Nepalis got
vaccinated against COVID-19 and the government also made noticeable progress in building new infrastructures.On the first day of 2078BS, 1.8
million doses of anti-COVID vaccines were administered while it reached over 40 million on the first day of 2079 BS, according to the
ministry.Nepal had begun administering COVID vaccines since 25 January 2021
So far, Nepal imported over 53 million doses of vaccines
The vaccines were brought on grant and under COVAX facility
The government also purchased huge amount of vaccines.The ministry further shared that 94 per cent of the target population (above 18 years
of age) had been administered the first dose of vaccine and 83.1 per cent received the second dose too
The ministry has aimed at vaccinating the remaining target population within the first month of the Nepali calendar.Similarly, Joint
Spokesperson at the ministry Dr Samir Kumar Adhikari said the challenges faced during the last one year were turned into opportunity.He also
said several facilities ranging from basic hospitals to hospital beds and oxygen plants were established in the last one year.A version of
this article appears in the print on April 16, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com