Red Cross starts giving COVID-19 shots in Kathmandu

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Apr. 8: With the surge of coronavirus infections in Nepal, the need for booster vaccine shots has arisen. Some people are searching for places to receive booster shots in the country. 

The Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) Kathmandu district branch has been the one of the major institutions that has been providing these vaccines in Kathmandu. Since receiving the vaccine against COVID-19, the NRCS Kathmandu district branch has been assisting government authorities in vaccinating the general public. 

Initially, the District Health Office Kathmandu and Kathmandu Metropolitan City established vaccination centers in various locations of Kathmandu, where the NRCS Kathmandu branch mobilised its volunteers. But, since the beginning of 2023, the NRCS Kathmandu Branch has been providing vaccinations from their own vaccinators and vaccination clinics.

Currently, the Nepal Red Cross Society Kathmandu District Branch is providing vaccination services from its own building in Bagbazaar and on the district administration office Kathmandu premises at Babar Mahal. The branch is vaccinating elderly and disabled citizens against COVID-19 by visiting their homes based on doctors' advice.

Shyam Dotel, the chairman of the district branch, shed light on the reasons for the Red Cross providing vaccination services. 

He said, "Nepal government agencies provide vaccination services only from 11 am to 2 pm during office hours. However, we have been providing vaccine shots to all kinds of government and non-government employees, daily workers, laborers, and other needy individuals by vaccinating them until 6:30 pm on our office premises. More than 100 people have been receiving all kinds of vaccinations, including COVID-19, daily at our Bagbazaar office premises.”

By transforming this vaccination centre into a Red Cross clinic, the Kathmandu Red Cross aims to provide all types of vaccinations given by the state from 7 am to 9 am in the morning and from 5 pm to 7 pm in the evening, chairman Dotel informed.