As many as 800,000 doses of the Vero Cell vaccine have arrived in the country.
Of the total 1.6 million doses of vaccines recently purchased by Nepal, the country had earlier received 800,000 doses.
Similarly, as many as 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines pledged by Japan for Nepal through the COVAX facility will arrive in Kathmandu Saturday onward. The jabs will be brought in two instalments – on Saturday and Monday.
Japan had delivered half of approximately 1.6 million pledged doses on August 7 and 8.
Ambassador Kikuta Yutaka said, “The vaccine donation is a symbol of friendship between Japan and Nepal. Japan is a country which keeps her word, and I am pleased to inform that Japan will actually provide more than the pledged 1.6 million doses of vaccine by the end of August. We deeply appreciate the dedication and hard work of all the related organisations in the international community.”
According to the Embassy of Japan to Nepal, Japan will donate a total of 1,614,740 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Nepal.
So far, Nepal has received 11.6 million doses of vaccines from various countries. The government has set a goal of ensuring anti-COVID vaccines to the targeted 33 per cent people by the end of September and to everyone by April 2022.
According to the data with the Ministry of Health and Population, as many as 4,795,902 individuals have received their first dose, while 3,649,760 have received both doses of various anti-COVID vaccines.
Meanwhile, the government has decided to vaccinate Grade XI and XII students studying in Kathmandu against COVID-19 for three days from today.
As per the decision of the Department of Health Services, the students can avail their first dose of Vero Cell from Friday.
Along with students above 18 years of age studying in Grade XI and XII, the jabs will also be administered to university students with their exam admission cards and citizens aged 40 years and above.
Nepal on Thursday recorded 3,075 cases of coronavirus infection and 33 COVID-related deaths across the country. With this, Nepal’s COVID caseload has reached 742,228, including 691,299 recoveries, 40,500 active cases, and 10,429 deaths.
Keeping in mind the rising cases, the Kathmandu District Administration Office on Thursday appealed the general public to celebrate upcoming festivals, including Janapurnima, Rishitarpani and Gaijatra, in a symbolic manner without congregating at religious sites.
