By Mahima Devkota, Kathmandu, May. 10:  The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is proving to be deadly especially for the youths. However, the government has not made any effort yet to inoculate them.

In May, 47.79 per cent of people of the total infected were aged between 20 to 40 years.

Dr. Jhalak Sharma Gautam, chief of the National Immunisation Programme, said no separate strategies had been framed to inoculate people between 20 to 40 years of age as of now.

"As we lack sufficient vaccines, we have prioritised vaccinating the vulnerable groups first, which includes the frontline health workers and senior citizens," said Dr. Gautam.

"The government is well aware that the youths mostly getting infected with the virus. Thus, attempts are being made to procure a large number of vaccines so that we can start the vaccination campaign for youths," he added.

 “We are holding dialogues with various nations including India, China, Russia, USA, and UK for the procurement of vaccines," adding that consultations were being held with vaccine manufacturer companies as well.

Similarly, Dr. Jageshwor  Gautam, spokesperson at the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) said that the government was striving to procure vaccines at the earliest.

“The plan is to buy enough vaccines so that all the citizens above 18 years of age can receive the jab,” said Dr. Gautam.

A total of 2,091,511 frontline health workers and senior citizens have already been inoculated with Covishiled and in the vaccination drive for the second dose of Vero Cell, which is about to begin from May 16, we have targeted to vaccinate 1, 59,499 people, the MoHP spokesperson added.

Moreover, Dr. Sagar Rajbhandari, Director of Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, said that a double dose of vaccination against COVID- 19 would lessen the risk of being infected with the novel coronavirus by 70 per cent.

"If all citizens including the youths are vaccinated the spread of the virus would somewhat come into control. Thus, the government must take necessary steps to vaccinate everyone across the nation,” he said.