Nepal's PM to receive COVID-19 vaccine today

Nepal's caretaker Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is set to receive the vaccine against COVID-19 on Sunday in order to begin the second phase of the inoculation drive in the Himalayan Nation.

According to Health Minister Hridayesh Tripathi, Oli will receive the first dose of his COVID-19 vaccine at the Teaching Hospital at 10 AM (Local Time).

"Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will start the second phase of the vaccination campaign from Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj at 10 am today receiving the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Also, Nepal will receive 348,000 doses through Covax," Health Minister Hridayesh Tripathi confirmed .

Oli,69, has a history of comorbidities and underwent a kidney transplant in 2020. Along with the Prime Minister, the head of other constitutional bodies also will be administered the 'Made in India' vaccine.

Nepal earlier this year received one million doses of Covishield vaccine from India in grant assistance and procured another two million vaccines from its Southern neighbour out of which One million is awaited. The vaccine developed locally by the Serum Institute of India (SSI) is the only vaccine being administered in the Himalayan Nation.

The Government of Nepal from Sunday is set to start the second phase of its vaccination drive targeting as many as 1.6 million senior citizens above 65 years of age. About 6,000 vaccination centers are set up across the country.

Likewise, people above 55 will be administered the vaccine against the disease in 15 districts in the mountainous region.

Nepal launched the first phase of the vaccination campaign on January 27 earlier this year and administered vaccines to the frontline workers.

( With inputs from ANI )