RUPANDEHI, JANUARY 24

Minister of Health, Population, and Family Welfare of Lumbini Province Indrajit Tharu has said that all the citizens of the province will be vaccinated against COV- ID-19 by March 14.

So far, 80 and 70 per cent of the population has been administered first and the full dose respectively, he informed, adding that preparations were under way to vaccinate people between the 12- 17 age group.

Fatality rate among those who received the first dose is two per cent and among those who were fully vaccinated is one per cent, he said at a face-to-face programme organised today in Butwal by Reporter's Club, Lumbini Province.

Vaccination awareness campaign has started in coordination with local levels to make people, especially from rural areas, aware about the vaccine, he said.

However, on the occasion, former health minister of the province and main opposition CPN- UML leader Bhoj Prasad Shrestha accused the provincial government of not being serious about the health of citizens.

He blamed that the government for failing to prevent and control the virus and effectively launching the vaccination campaign.

Similarly, central president of the Human Rights and Peace Society Gobinda Khanal accused the provincial government of not being serious about preventing and controlling the infection.

Also, chairperson of Lumbini Medical College Gopal Bahadur Pokhrel and central joint treasurer of Nepal Public Health Association Uma Thapa complained that health workers, who have worked 24 hours against the virus, have not been given any incentive yet.

A version of this article appears in the print on January 25, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.