Indian Neighbour, Himalayan Nation, Nepal launched its largest immunisation campaign on Wednesday, January 27 with its first coronavirus vaccinations for medical workers, after a gift of one million doses from India. A doctor at a teaching hospital in the Nepal capital, Kathmandu, became the first recipient of the Covid 19 vaccine and inoculated by masked and gowned staff.
Dinesh Kafle, 50, the first recipient after his jab, said, “We have a new weapon now and I hope we will be able to defeat the coronavirus soon". Tens of thousands of Nepal’s frontline health workers are in the queue to receive India’s AstraZeneca vaccine, caretaker Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli said as the drive began. Oli added, “We are in talks with India to procure more vaccines at a proper price". India said it would give millions of vaccine doses to its South Asian neighbours, warm welcomed move and drawing their praise in what could prove a pushback against China’s activities in the region.
Nepal's another neighbour China which has promised Nepal to deal with pandemic is still waiting for its vaccine, Sinopharm shots. The demand for vaccines in the countries, desperate to revive their tourism-dependent economies, has offered Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government a way to claw back ground, diplomats felt. With a population of more than 30 million, Nepal’s tally of infections stands at 270,092, with 2,017 deaths.
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