JAJARKOT, JANUARY 21
People in three rural municipalities of upper Dolpa have been deprived of COVID-19 vaccine though the District Health Service Office has been running a vaccination drive in the lower belts of the district targeting children between 12 and 17 years of age.
Similarly, people above 17 years are given Vero Cell vaccine while senior citizens above 60 years are given the booster dose in the lower belts.
The office has stated that vaccination campaign could not be run in the Upper Dolpa citing a heavy snowfall.
The people of Upper Dolpa are likely to suffer as the administration has already decided that anyone without vaccination card would not be access public services from January 22.
Three rural municipalities in Upper Dolpa have witnessed a heavy snowfall and the people there are deprived of public services including vaccines due to heavy snowfall.
Likewise, administering government recommended vaccines to the children and safe maternity services have also been halted in the area from November.
The people from the Upper Dolpa - Shey Phoksundo, Chhakatangsung and Dolpo Buddha- travel to the district headquarters in Dunai and other parts of the country for five months of the winter to escape the biting cold there. Tek Bahadur Gurung, a health official, said the health workers and women volunteers deployed in Upper Dolpa's rural municipalities have also not received vaccines.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 22, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
