Nepal appeals for COVID-19 vaccines as cases rise

Nepal appeals for COVID-19 vaccines as cases rise

"People who have already got the first dose will be in difficulty if they don't receive their second dose within the stipulated time," said Samir Adhikari, a senior official of the Ministry of Health and Population in capital Kathmandu.

 Family members mourn a COVID-19 victim in Kathmandu. Reuters

On Monday, Prime Minister K.P.Sharma Oli urged foreign donors to supply vaccines and critical care medicines to prevent a collapse of the small country's creaky health infrastructure.

Nepal, wedged between China and India, has already vaccinated more than two million people with the AstraZeneca vaccine provided by India and China's Sinopharm.

But authorities were forced to suspend the vaccination programme last month after the country failed to secure fresh dispatches of vaccine from India and China.

"I would like to request our neighbours, friendly countries and international organisations to help us with vaccines and critical care medicines ...to support ongoing efforts to combat the pandemic,” Oli said in a televised address.

 A man cremates a body of a COVID-19 victim  in Kathmandu. Reuters

Oli said officials were in contact China and Russia and other manufacturers to urgently secure vaccines.

Oli, who has been criticised for doing little to contain the pandemic, said vaccines and critical care medicines were "global goods" and that