Even after the two months of restriction following the second wave of coronavirus pandemic, our nation is still facing troubles from the deadly contagion. Though the infection and death toll has come down sharply, thanks to the strict prohibitory orders, the spread of the virus in the nation has not yet come under the desired level of control. After the authority relaxed the restrictive orders to resume daily activities, a fear has gripped us that the nation could be hit by the third wave of pandemic with a new and deadly variant of the virus. The health pundits and experts have predicted Nepal may experience the third swing of the pandemic, if the people fail to obey full safety protocols, which would be fatal to the people of all ages, including children and adults.

Experts say that the dreaded disease will remain with us until the time the whole population is completely immunised with COVID-19 shots. Like other governments, our authority must opt for immunising its population because the vaccine has turned out a prime factor for health safety. The jabs will enhance the people's immune system against pernicious contagion. According to recent media reports, the people who have taken the double shots rarely fall seriously ill as the persons receiving the single jab have shown resilience against the illness. In our country, vaccines have shown a greater potency against many strains of coronavirus. This is the reason the people these days have pushed hard the government for providing them with life-saving shots.

It is heartening to see that our authority has been able to bring in several doses of the coronavirus vaccines lately. The government has bought 4 million doses of the life-saving vaccine from China, of which the first tranche - 800,000 doses - has already arrived. Earlier, the government of China and India each provided 1 million doses in grants to us. Meanwhile, the US-granted 1.5 million doses of shots will too arrive in the country in due time. What is remarkable about the US provided vaccine is that a receiver of the vaccine will need only one shot. Likewise, the country will soon receive vaccines from India for which it has already made payments. There are many doses to be received under the WHO's COVAX programme. It appears that Nepal is on a course to get the required doses of vaccines in due time, giving much-needed relief from the dreaded virus.

As the risk of coronavirus keeps on swelling, vaccination appears to be the most feasible choice to deal with the virulent disease. Strengthening the people's immune system would help overcome all the uncertainties Nepal has confronted owing to the onset of the dreaded pandemic. Vaccination would without doubt bring our life to normalcy. Likewise, our government would find it easy to resume socio-economic and other day-to-day activities. Businesses, tourism activities, transportation, schools and colleges can resume and run normally. In short, to bring the people and country to the pre-COVID-19 time, vaccination of the entire population is the only a way out. When the people of all ages get jabs in time, it would allow them and the country to get out of the fatal clutches of the coronavirus pandemic. However, the government should make every effort to import vaccines from every possible destination.