As recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and National Immunisation Advisory Committee, the Ministry of Health and Population on Tuesday decided to use Covishield/AstraZeneca vaccine as a booster dose for people above 60 years of age even though they had received other doses – Moderna, Pfizer or VeroCell – during the first and second shots. The ministry had decided to provide the booster dose to people above 60 and others with underlying health conditions. In its recent decision, the ministry also decided to give a second dose of Covishield or AstraZeneca vaccine even to those people who had already received the first dose of VeroCell, Moderna or Pfizer, but are unable to receive the second dose of the same brand due to shortage. As per the decision, the people who had received the first dose of AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer or VeroCell in foreign countries will also be given the Covishield vaccine. A notice to this effect has been dispatched to all the district health offices by the Family Welfare Bureau under the ministry. The ministry has said Covishield vaccine should be used as a booster dose unless the ministry changes its decision.

Although the ministry has not given any reason behind reaching this decision, the ministry said it decided to use heterologous vaccines following an approval by the WHO, which has been advising the government regarding the vaccination campaign in the country. Earlier, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee had decided to use only homologous vaccines. But it changed its mind after the WHO gave its approval for the use of heterologous vaccines. The main reason behind taking the decision on using heterologous vaccines as the booster dose could be the shortage of vaccines of other brands. But the ministry must assure the people that the use of a heterologous vaccine as a booster dose will have no side effect.

Despite the shortage of vaccines of other brands, the government has claimed it is well within the target of immunising 40 per cent of the total vaccine eligible population above 12 by mid-February. The ministry has also targeted to vaccinate all eligible population by mid-April. But it is unlikely to meet its target of vaccinating all eligible population due to lack of coordination between the three tiers of government.

To meet the central government's mid- April target, all the local levels and health facilities must run the vaccination drive even during holidays.

As the government has also decided to hold the local level polls before May 18 in a single phase, as per the legal provisions, the vaccination campaign must be run on a war footing as more and more people will be engaging in the election campaigns across the country at least for two months before the poll date. There is a high possibility of coronavirus infections during the election campaigns. The situation could go out of hand if there is no effective coordination among the three tiers of government. Therefore, keeping in mind the upcoming local level elections, it is imperative to make all the health facilities and elected bodies fully prepared to deal with any kind of eventuality.

All political parties should also follow the health protocols while canvassing during the elections. Bird flu detected

The detection of bird flu at two locations of Morang district calls for alertness in both poultry farmers and the government to see that it does not spread further. Exactly a year ago, cases of bird flu were confirmed in Kathmandu, which created panic among the consumers of poultry products. According to the Department of Livestock Services, following the confirmation of avian influenza (H5N1) in the samples collected from local farms in Morang district bordering India, it hadmobilised the related bodies to destroy the birds to prevent the transmission of the virus.

Since Nepal experienced its first case of bird flu in 2009, there have been hundreds of outbreaks till date, with as many as 201 cases reported in 2013.

Birds apart, one human death from avian influenza had also been reported, in 2019.

The only way to stop the outbreak and transmission of the disease is to follow the government guidelines, such as the requirement of veterinary certificates for the transport of poultry and poultry products and for the farmers to regularly disinfect their farms. Also, since poultry products are expensive in Nepal, vigilance at the southern border is needed to stop the smuggling of chicken through it.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 3, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.