After administering COVID-19 vaccines on nearly 430,000 people in the first phase of the crucial inoculation campaign, the government launched its second vaccination campaign on March 7. In the first phase, frontline workers including health workers, women health volunteers, public sanitation workers, ambulance drivers, inmates and those involved in the management of COVID-19 related dead bodies were vaccinated. Additionally, journalists, staff of diplomatic missions and corporation employees were also covered. The second phase of nationwide inoculation is meant for people above 55 years of age. This age group includes around 5,164,269 people who constitute 17 per cent of the total population. People with chronic diseases, migrant workers and refugees living in the country will also be covered in this phase, according to the Ministry of Health and Population.

Vaccine experts say that people with chronic ailments of heart, brain, lungs, kidneys and cancer and those who were previously infected with COVID-19 and have cured should not be excluded. Breast feeding mothers and people with HIV are also eligible for the vaccine. People with serious illnesses are recommended to receive the COVID-19 vaccines after their recovery. However, people with bleeding disorders and blood clotting defects are advised to exercise extreme caution to take this vaccine. In Nepal as well as globally, maximum number of COVID-19 fatalities has occurred in the people of senior age group. Nepali people being covered in the second phase of COVID-19 vaccination fall in this vulnerable group because they are aged above 65 years. Vaccination is a preventive measure and in this regard, inoculating the populace of senior age group is very important because it provides preventive protection to those who are relatively less immuno-resilient to COVID19.

Thus, it is high time people in this age group discarded all hesitation about the vaccine and receive their shots. Minister for Health and Population Hridayesh Tripathi, in an interaction with editors recently said that trust in the vaccines has increased and more institutions are making special requests to inoculate their staff. Occurrences of minor symptoms are natural because the vaccine exposes our body system to the weakened version of the virus. It is this exposure that stimulates the building of immunity in our body. In this process, minor short term symptoms of headache, fever, pain at the needle-insertion point, lethargy, joint pain, nausea, vomiting and flu-like illness may occur. They are only temporary and should not be worried about much. All over the country, eleven cases of high fever after the vaccination were reported but they were cured. There is no single case of fatality related to vaccination in Nepal. This shows that one can stay safe, immune and assured after receiving the shot.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli received the COVID-19 vaccine on the launching day of the second phase of the inoculation drive. This added confidence and enthusiasm in all the people eligible for the jabs. According to the data made available by the Health Ministry, 165,428 senior citizens across the country have received the vaccines on the first day. A news item in this daily has reported that participation of senior citizens in this vaccination drive has been encouraging. Recipients of the shots have developed a sense of confidence and safety which in itself is an important factor to build resilience against the pandemic.