KATHMANDU, Feb 8: The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has rolled out the second phase of vaccination drive against COVID-19 from today.
In the second drive, the 'Covishield' vaccine is being administered to journalists, officials at the diplomatic missions and frontline government employees, according to the MoHP.
The first drive of vaccination had begun on January 27 this year, a little over a year since the first COVID-19 case was reported in the country on January 23, 2020.
Dr Shyamraj Uprety, coordinator of the COVID-19 Vaccination Advisory Committee, shared that the 'Covishield' provided by the Indian government under grant assistance will be administered to as many as 300,000 frontline journalists, diplomats and government employees in the second phase.
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In the second drive, officials in the administrative units across the country, staffers at the offices of land revenue and offices of survey, bankers, and journalists among others have been prioritized.
The government of India had provided Nepal a total of 1 million doses of Covishield vaccine. In the first phase, frontline medical workers, sanitation workers, ambulance drivers, hearse drivers and security officials were prioritized for the vaccination.
Although the plan had it that a total of 430,000 doses of vaccine would be administered in the first phase, only 184,857 individuals received the vaccine, according to Uprety.
He said the second phase of vaccination will continue until coming Friday.
Vaccines would be administered to journalists and employees of the diplomatic missions by coming Friday.
"The data of employees working at the frontline except journalists and diplomatic mission staffers is going ahead. They would also be inoculated after two or three days," he said.
According to him, around 300,000 individuals would be vaccinated in this phase.
The first phase of vaccination covered health workers, drivers of ambulances and mortuary vans, vaccination sanitation workers including those collecting waste and the drivers of trucks transporting the waste, security persons and volunteers mobilised at the vaccination centres, people mobilised for managing the dead bodies of COVID-19 victims, the female health volunteers. The health workers and other employees working at the international entry points, people looking after the old people and the old people sheltered in old-age homes and the inmates and security personnel at prisons.
Vaccines are being administered to journalists at Civil Service Hospital, Naya Baneshwar and to the staffers of the diplomatic missions from the Patan Academy of Health Sciences and Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH).
Preparations have been made to conclude the second-phase vaccination within 10 days. Journalists should produce a letter issued by the Department of Information identifying him/her for the vaccination.
