KATHMANDU, JULY 19

The situation outside the overcrowded Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital remained tense all day long today after hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital from early morning, giving the hospital management team a hard time in controlling the crowd.

The STIDH, a primary hospital for treating infectious disease in the country, has been a major hub for COVID vaccine jabs for the public.

Hundreds of people, who are not permanent residents of the valley, gathered outside the hospital in the hope that they would get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine jab today.

The crowd, however, kept growing larger in the afternoon even as they did not bother to maintain rules of physical distancing. Being uncertain about getting the vaccination today, the crowd started panicking and created big fuss as they jostled.

The hospital management committee, which asked police for help to take the tense situation under control, then asked the people to leave the site.

'Police asked us to come tomorrow by turning audio on a loudspeaker,' said Pratik Dahal of Gatthaghar, who had gone a long way to Teku to get the vaccine. Dahal said he had reached the hospital at 10:00am but returned without getting the shot in the evening.

The government has said that normal people between the age of 50 and 54 years are eligible to get the J&J vaccine, but many youths also lined up at the vaccination centres to get the jab.

A version of this article appears in the print on July 20 2021, of The Himalayan Times.