NAC’s wide-body aircraft bringing vaccines

KATHMANDU: JULY 8 – There will be three flights from today to bring the coronavirus vaccine ‘Verosel’ to Nepal. The vaccine is being brought from the wide-body A330 aircraft of the Nepal Airlines Corporation through three flights from today to July 23.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of Health and Population Dr. Krishna Prasad Poudel said that the aircraft would go to bring the Vero Cell vaccine from China. The government is about to bring the vaccine from China through government-to-government (G2G). According to him, the corporation’s plane is going to China this evening to get vaccines. The aircraft will bring the vaccine on July 9.

Similarly, the wide-body aircraft will go to bring vaccines on July 15 and the aircraft will leave Nepal on July 16 and again leaves on July 22 and the vaccine will be brought on July 23. The aircraft will go to China three times to get vaccines.

The government is about to buy the Vero Cell vaccine from a Chinese Sinopharm company. He said that people in the age group of 60 years and above will be given priority after the arrival of the vaccine in Nepal.

The ministry has also informed that the government will soon bring the vaccine through the COVAX facility. Ministry spokesperson Dr. Poudel informed that the remaining vaccines are being prepared as per the commitment of COVAX to provide vaccines to a population of 6 million. Earlier, only 348,000 vaccines were received through COVAX. So far, 4.248 million vaccines have been received in Nepal.

The target is to vaccinate a total of 22 million people over the age of 18 in Nepal. So far, 851,300 people have been given the second dose and 261,807 people have been given the first dose.