The District Health Office, Kathmandu has started providing the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccines to the general public.
As the Office said, people who have applied for the vaccine through online registration are included in the vaccination drive that kicked off on Tuesday.
Earlier, Nepal had received 230,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from Bhutan and another 513,000 doses from Japan. Previously, the booster dose of the vaccine was given to the senior citizens above 65 years replacing the Covishield. Presently, the leftover doses are being administered to others.
According to Dr Jhalak Sharma Gautam, Chief of Child Health and Immunization Section at the Department of Health Services, all senior citizens getting the first shot of Covishield might have not taken the Astra Zeneca as the second dose and that’s why the leftover doses of the vaccines are being administered. All local levels in the Kathmandu district have the COVID-19 vaccination centres.
According to the Office, the Kathmandu Metropolis has five vaccination centres followed by each at Kirtipur, Tarakeshwor, Nagarjun, Budhanilkantha, Kageshwori-Manahara, Tokha and Gokarneshwor municipalities.
Radhaswami Isolation Centre, Nepal Police Hospital, Bir Hospital, Birendra Military Hospital and Civil Hospital have served as the COVID-19 vaccination centres for the Kathmandu Metropolis and it plans to add more centres depending on the needs.
READ ALSO: