KATHMANDU, Feb 27: Five districts in the country are yet to achieve full vaccination status. Nuwakot, Parsa, Rautahat, Mahottari and Dhanusha districts have not been declared fully vaccinated as of yet.

Abhiyaan Gautam, head of the Department of Health Services, Child Health and Immunization Section, said that Nuwakot and Parsa are in the process to be announced as fully-vaccinated districts.

For complete immunization, children under two years of age must receive all required vaccines. As of now, 16 local governments of these five districts are yet to be declared fully vaccinated.

Similarly, according to Nepal Demographic Health Survey (NDHS), 2022, four percent of children are deprived of complete vaccination. This is an increase from one percent reported in the NDHS 2016.

“This disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to children missing their vaccination schedules,” said Gautam, “Children are not fully protected until they are fully vaccinated,” he said.

The government provides 13 types of vaccines against nine diseases to children free of cost. Annually, in the Nepali month of Baisakh, the government celebrates a vaccination month to catch up on missed vaccinations for children. Chief Gautam said that during this time, a nationwide search and vaccination campaign is conducted to reach children who have missed their regular vaccination schedules.

By mid-May, 2023, a total of 40,463 children under the age of five had received catch-up vaccinations.

To ensure complete vaccination coverage and address concerns as measles-rubella infections, the government has explained its vaccination efforts to include vaccines for hepatitis B, pertussis, influenza, whooping cough, frog disease, pneumonia and polio.

 
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