Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli has said the government is procuring four million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in a way to inoculated people from mid-July.
Speaking in the meeting of COVID-19 Management Steering Committee on Wednesday, he claimed that the government is preparing to bring four million doses calling vaccine the most important tool for control of the pandemic.
"The vaccines will be administered from mid-July. Scarcity of vaccines will gradually wane as we are taking initiative with other countries," PM Oli told the meeting.
PM Oli revealed that the governemnt will procure the vaccines from Sinopharm and bring one million at first and then the remaning three millions in different batches of 500,000 each.
"It will be better even for us to bring the vaccines in separate lots instead of bringing them all at once," an official present in the meeting quoted Oli as saying. "They will also have no pressure on manufacturing while giving in multiple lots. But there should be guarantee of delivery of vaccines. The Chinese company has provided that guarantee."
A federal minister recently also had said that the government is procuring four million doses from China but had not revealed the name of the vaccine or the procurement process.
The steering committee meeting also decided to opt for what it called smart lockdown from the next week to allow production and supply of essential items while reducing risks of infection.
The ongoing prohibitory orders in the Kathmandu Valley will be extended further but restriction on a a few sectors will be lifted following safety protocols after evaluating the situation, according to a member of the situation.
