A week after winning the vote of confidence, the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government on Sunday appointed Umesh Shrestha, a member of parliament, as the State Minister for Health and Population.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed Shrestha as the State Minister for Health and Population on the recommendation of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.
“Combating COVID will be the first priority of the new government,” Deuba had said in the parliament after he won the vote of confidence.
Fewer than 4% of the country’s 30 million people have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. More than 1.3 million people, who have had a first dose of a vaccine, are awaiting a second as the government scrambles to procure shots.
Health authorities on Sunday diagnosed 1,539 cases of coronavirus infection across the country, including 624 in the Kathmandu valley, and 18 COVID patients died in the past 24 hours.
With this, Nepal’s COVID caseload has reached 680,556, including 643,615 recoveries, 27,228 active cases, and 9,713 deaths.
The country, however, still does not have a Health Minister and Prime Minister Deuba will reportedly look after the portfolio himself.
A meeting of the Central Security Committee held at Singha Durbar under the chairmanship of Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand on Sunday decided to begin preparations for the potential third wave of COVID-19 pandemic.
A press statement issued after the meeting stated that the third wave of COVID-19 is likely to begin soon and the meeting decided to take required measures to prevent and control the damage the virus could cause.
Despite being well aware of the potential third wave, authorities have turned a blind eye to grossly unmanaged vaccination centers that are at the risk of becoming new hotspots.
Though the Health Ministry had asked the general public three months ago to register online for vaccination, those who registered were never contacted by the Ministry.
On Saturday, the Health Ministry said that the government will prioritize vaccines for those who have registered online – in complete disregard to equitable distribution of vaccines.
Nepal has currently been receiving 4 million vaccines purchased from China in batches. Health officials have said they have almost finalized an agreement to purchase additional 6 million dosed from Sinopharm.
Similarly, 1.6 million doses of vaccines provided by Japan as grant through the COVAX facility will arrive in Kathmandu within a week.
Despite a smooth inflow of vaccines, lack of vaccine storage facilities coupled with serpentine queues, eligible people not getting the vaccines despite standing in line for more than six hours and influential people accessing the jabs without even having to meet the criteria or stand in crowded rows have laid bare the vaccination situation in Nepal.
All the while, Prime Minister Deuba waits to appoint a Health Minister who will help him in power balance.
Nepal government has vaccines but no Health Minister amid potential third wave of COVID-19
A week after winning the vote of confidence, the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government on Sunday appointed Umesh Shrestha, a member of parliament, as the State Minister for Health and Population.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed Shrestha as the State Minister for Health and Population on the recommendation of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.
“Combating COVID will be the first priority of the new government,” Deuba had said in the parliament after he won the vote of confidence.
Fewer than 4% of the country’s 30 million people have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. More than 1.3 million people, who have had a first dose of a vaccine, are awaiting a second as the government scrambles to procure shots.
Health authorities on Sunday diagnosed 1,539 cases of coronavirus infection across the country, including 624 in the Kathmandu valley, and 18 COVID patients died in the past 24 hours.
With this, Nepal’s COVID caseload has reached 680,556, including 643,615 recoveries, 27,228 active cases, and 9,713 deaths.
The country, however, still does not have a Health Minister and Prime Minister Deuba will reportedly look after the portfolio himself.
A meeting of the Central Security Committee held at Singha Durbar under the chairmanship of Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand on Sunday decided to begin preparations for the potential third wave of COVID-19 pandemic.
A press statement issued after the meeting stated that the third wave of COVID-19 is likely to begin soon and the meeting decided to take required measures to prevent and control the damage the virus could cause.
Despite being well aware of the potential third wave, authorities have turned a blind eye to grossly unmanaged vaccination centers that are at the risk of becoming new hotspots.
Though the Health Ministry had asked the general public three months ago to register online for vaccination, those who registered were never contacted by the Ministry.
On Saturday, the Health Ministry said that the government will prioritize vaccines for those who have registered online – in complete disregard to equitable distribution of vaccines.
Nepal has currently been receiving 4 million vaccines purchased from China in batches. Health officials have said they have almost finalized an agreement to purchase additional 6 million dosed from Sinopharm.
Similarly, 1.6 million doses of vaccines provided by Japan as grant through the COVAX facility will arrive in Kathmandu within a week.
Despite a smooth inflow of vaccines, lack of vaccine storage facilities coupled with serpentine queues, eligible people not getting the vaccines despite standing in line for more than six hours and influential people accessing the jabs without even having to meet the criteria or stand in crowded rows have laid bare the vaccination situation in Nepal.
All the while, Prime Minister Deuba waits to appoint a Health Minister who will help him in power balance.
