KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 5

Nepal has recently received 6 million 50 thousand doses of vaccines against measles and rubella. Dr Abhiyan Gautam, the chief of Child Health and Vaccination Section, Department of Health Services confirmed the arrivals of this amount of vaccines in the country under the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunizations (GAVI) grant assistance.

The vaccines are manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. Additional 280,000 doses of vaccines are awaited to be delivered, according to Dr Gautam.

The government plans to administer the newly arrived vaccines to around 5.7 million children under 15 by launching a nationwide vaccination campaign from upcoming February 25 to March 20, bearing in mind the scale of infection risk.

The vaccination campaign will cover children aged nine months to below 15 years in 21 districts including those districts sharing border with India and assessed as highly vulnerable to the infection as well as the three districts in the Kathmandu Valley, according to Gautam.

In remaining districts, the vaccines will be given to children aged nine months to five years.

Earlier, the government launched a vaccination campaign in Jajarkot and West Rukum in the aftermath of the November 3 earthquake. The government aims to eliminate the measles and rubella infections by 2026 AD.

Vaccine Supplies Management Section Chief Dr Surendra Chaurasiya said the vaccines have been stored at the Teku-based Central Vaccine Store and they will be dispatched to districts soon.

Last year, the rubella and measles infections took an epidemic turn in 19 districts.