KATHMANDU, MARCH 7
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli received the coronavirus vaccine on Sunday, officially beginning the second phase of Covid-19 vaccine drive in the country.
He got vaccinated at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgung.
After receiving the vaccine, in a brief interaction with mediapersons, PM Oli urged the eligible group to take the vaccine without any fear in order to defeat Covid-19. The vaccine was also administered on PM Oli's spouse Radhika Shakya.
Immediately after the PM got the Covid-19 jab, Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Lekhraj Bhatta, advisors to the Prime Minister, and staffers of PM's Secretariat also received the vaccine, according to the secretariat.
In the second phase, people over 65 years all across the country will get inoculated against the coronavirus.
The government, last week, made some changes to its earlier plan of vaccinating people above the age of 55 owing to the lack of adequate vaccines for those falling in this category.
Likewise, plans to inoculate university professors, teachers and staff, drivers and assistant drivers of public vehicles -- who were scheduled to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in this phase -- have also been set aside for now and will get the jab as soon as the next lot is procured.
The government has now scheduled to vaccinate those aged between 55 and 64 after 10 days following the scheduled arrival of 348,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine under the COVAX facility, on March 7.
The vaccination campaign that started from January 27 in the country has so far vaccinated 429,705 people, 1.4 per cent of the total population including frontline workers -- health workers, sanitation workers, female community health volunteers, prisoners, ambulance workers, people in old-age homes, security personnel involved in the management of Covid-19 related deaths, journalists, financial institutions' employees, diplomatic staff, UN agencies employees, lawmakers, local representatives, and staffers of local governments.
