Coronavirus Pandemic: COVID-19 vaccination begins for 5-12 age group in Nepal

Nepal has started COVID vaccination for the age group of 5-12 years from Thursday.
Students stood in a queue at their school to get their first dose of the anti-COVID vaccine as the vaccination began in 27 out of 77 districts in the first phase of the inoculation drive.

The vaccine facility is provided by the United States.

According to the health ministry, a total of 1300 vaccination centres have been designated to facilitate and vaccinate about 3.9 Million children through the campaign.

"The vaccination campaign which started from today is targeted for children between 5-12 years. Small children are now being vaccinated for the very first which is positive and sends out a good message that the government is conveying to the public," Dolma Lama, a secondary-level teacher at a local school in Kathmandu told ANI.

"As a teacher and parent, we were really concerned about the health of our children which also makes us feel safe," Dolma Lama said further.

In the Kathmandu district, as many as 190,000 children of the targeted age group will get vaccinated at their respective schools.

"I am feeling really good because, until now only some adults and older children have got their vaccine and are safe from coronavirus but now even the younger children will be safe from COVID-19. So, it's really good to see that even children from the world are now safe from COVID-19," Abhik Pandey, a secondary-level student told ANI.

Nepal started the formal roll-out after receiving, 2.2 million doses of the vaccine on June 19 with the assistance of the United States through the COVAX facility.

Under the vaccination campaign, children between the age group from 27 districts will be administered the first dose from June 23 to 29 and the second dose from July 18 to 24.

Likewise, in the second phase, the first dose will be administered to children of 50 districts from August 21 to 27 and the second dose from September 12 to 17.

"Before when it was the lockdown and everyone was isolated I felt really afraid and I thought of getting infected in case of going outside or anywhere around. I was pretty afraid and never went outside but after getting vaccinated, I think everyone is safe and I don't think I will get COVID anymore," Erum Javed Ansari, another secondary level student shared her experience with ANI.

Meanwhile, Nepal reported 49 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

(ANI)