Earlier, the government had given a nod to emergency use of Vero Cell against COVID-19 to people aged between 18 to 59 years only.
KATHMANDU, June 6: The government is inoculating the Vero Cell COVID-19 vaccine to people of 60 to 64 age groups from Tuesday.
The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has maintained that all Nepali citizens between the age group of 60 to 64 living across the country will be inoculated with the first jab of the vaccine which Nepal received under grant assistance from China.
11-day campaign to administer Vero Cell vaccines begins today
However, in the earlier COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the government had announced to administer the Vero Cell vaccine only to people of the age group of 18 to 59. This has raised some serious concerns regarding the safety and efficiency of the vaccine in the people between the age group of 60 to 64.
It is true that the Government of Nepal earlier had given permission for emergency use of the Vero Cell vaccine against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to people of the age group of 18 to 59 only. During that time, the government was not aware about the safety and efficiency of the Vero Cell vaccine in people of the age group of 60 to 64, according to the MoHP.
On May 7, 2021, the World Health Organization gave the permission for emergency use of the Vero Cell vaccine against COVID-19 to people older than 60. So, the government has decided to inoculate people aged between 60 to 64 years this time as they are at a high risk of COVID-19 infection, reads a notice issued by the MoHP.
“To my knowledge, China, Indonesia, Pakistan and some other countries in the Middle East have already administered this vaccine to people older than 60. WHO has also given a nod for emergency use of Vero Cell against COVID-19 to people above 60. So I believe the vaccine is safe and efficient in this age group as well,” said Dr Sher Bahadur Pun of Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital at Teku, Kathmandu.
The vaccine is safe and free, says MoHP.
