KATHMANDU: Director at Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Diseases Hospital, Teku Dr. Sagar Rajbhandari will be the first person to receive coronavirus vaccine in Nepal.
Rajbhandari will be inoculated as a part of the coronavirus vaccination drive to be launched at 10 am on Wednesday.
He said that he was going to get the first vaccine to convey the message that the vaccine is safe as many people have doubts about the vaccine.
“There is a fear among the general public and some health workers that the vaccine will have any effect. It is necessary to convey the message that the vaccine is safe at this time, so I have decided to get the jab first,” said Rajbhandari.
Prime Minister KP Oli is scheduled to inaugurate a simultaneous vaccination campaign in three hospitals in Kathmandu at 10 am on Wednesday virtually.
The Ministry of Health and Population has said that the vaccination will be started from 62 hospitals initially.
In the Kathmandu Valley, the ministry has designated 17 hospitals for vaccination. The hospitals include Nepal Medical College, Ganga Lal Hospital, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Army Hospital, Nepal Police Hospital, Armed Police Force Hospital, Veer Hospital, Ayurveda Training Center Kirtipur, Teku Hospital, Maternity Home, Patan Hospital, Kathmandu Medical College, and Civil Hospital.
Likewise, Kist Medical College, Ananda One Hospital, and Korean Hospital and Bhaktapur Hospital have been designated for vaccination.
Vaccination will be given to health workers and frontline workers at the initial phase.
The Ministry of Health and Population has already prepared a list of 430,000 frontline health workers and other high-risk workers to be vaccinated.
Among them, as many as 2,25,782 are health workers and others are sanitation workers, ambulance drivers, hearse drivers, women’s health volunteers, and frontline security personnel.
Comment