The government is preparing to administer the COVID-19 vaccines India provided to Nepal in grant from Wednesday.
The vaccines will be administered in all seven provinces after inauguration of the vaccination drive by Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli on Wednesday.
The Health Ministry has said vaccines will be administered from 62 hospitals in the beginning. Chief of the Vaccine Division at the Department of Health Services Dr Jhalak Sharma Gautam said that the number of hospitals will increase. He added that all the district hospitals will be converted into vaccination centers.
"Vaccines will reach all the provinces by Monday end. We will start inoculation in the majority of districts on Wednesday while it may be delayed by a few days in some hilly districts," Dr Gautam stated.
Vaccines will be administered from 17 places inside the Kathmandu Valley. Gangalal Hospital, Nepal Medical College, Nepal Police Hospital, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Army Hospital, APF Hospital, Ayurved Training Center, Bir Hospital, Maternity Hospital, Teku Hospital, Civil Hospital and Kathmandu Medical College will administer vaccines in Kathmandu district.
Patan Hospital, KIST Medical College, and Ananda Ban Hospital in Lalitpur district and Korean Hospital and Bhaktapur Hospital in Bhaktapur will also administer the vaccines.
Dr Gautam revealed that the vaccines will be administered at multiple centers even in some districts outside the Valley.
The one million doses of vaccines given by India will first be given to 430,000 persons including health professionals and others working on the front line including security persons, sanitation workers, ambulance drivers and others.
He said the vaccination campaign will be conducted in a way that all 430,000 persons are given the first dose within a week.
The vaccines had arrived on an Air India flight on Thursday after Health Minister Hridayesh Tripathi and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra organized a joint press conference on Wednesday to announce that.
Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali had also discussed the issue of vaccine with Indian government officials during his India visit a week before that.
The government on January 15 had granted emergency use authorization for Covishield vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India. A meeting of the Department of Drug Administration had granted emergency use authorization for Covishield making the Indian vaccine the first to get any kind of permission in Nepal.
The vaccine is developed by the company in coordination with the Oxford University.
The government has already given permission to private companies to import COVID-19 vaccines while Nepal is also expected to receive some vaccines through COVAX, the UN-backed global effort aimed at helping lower income countries obtain the shots. But when exactly those vaccines will arrive has yet to be known.
