Nepal’s COVID-19 vaccination drive focused mainly on Bagmati as cases see a sharp rise in other provinces

KATHMANDU, July 26: As of Sunday, 1,398,178 people are fully vaccinated and 3,383,038 people have received a single dose of vaccine against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nepal, according to the latest data issued by the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP).

Of the total 1,398,178 people, who are fully vaccinated against the COVID-19, 787,696 are people living in Bagmati Province where the federal capital of the country lies. This accounts for 56.34 percent of total people who are fully vaccinated against the viral disease.

Likewise, of 3,383,038 people receiving a single dose of vaccine, 1,234,681 are those living in Bagmati Province. This accounts for 36.5 percent of total people receiving a single dose of the vaccine.

According to the daily COVID-19 updates published by the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) on Sunday, of the total 2,237 new cases of COVID-19 recorded across the country, 695 new cases were detected in Bagmati province. As many as 1,542 new cases were recorded in other provinces.

In recent days, COVID-19 cases are on rise in Province 1, Gandaki Province, Karnali province and Sudurpaschim Province, according to the data of the MoHP.

Likewise, of the 10 districts of Nepal with more than 500 active cases of COVID-19 only four of them lie in Bagmati Province. There are currently 24 districts with more than 200 active cases of COVID-19. Seven of these districts lie in Bagmati Province.

Nepal has administered 460,308 second doses of covishield vaccine so far. Of them, 160,490 were administered solely in Bagmati Province. Similarly, Nepal has administered 694,555 second doses of Vero Cell vaccine in Nepal. Of them, 442,713 were administered to people living in Bagmati province. And, of 243,315 shots of J&J vaccine administered in Nepal, 184,493 were administered in Bagmati province alone.

“I haven’t been able to figure out why the government is not administering COVID-19 vaccines proportionally to other provinces in the country,” said Dr Sameer Mani Dixit. “With the government’s decision to ease the prohibitory orders in the Kathmandu Valley, people are travelling to remote regions where only a few people have been vaccinated. New cases of COVID-19 are rising these days in such places,” Dr Dixit added.

Experts have warned that the situation could get worse if the government failed to focus proportionally to other provinces of the country in its vaccination campaign. They maintain that the government should prioritize at least the highly affected districts for now as it continues with the vaccination drive against COVID-19.