Namrata Sharma

Nepal has done unexpectedly well in rolling out the vaccines on time and in a manner which has reached the needy on a priority basis,” says Dr. Sharad Onta, a public health expert, who has been involved in curbing the pandemic in Nepal. He says that the disease has been well contained here given that Nepal is one of the least developed countries with few resources. “However, this is no time to be slack and think that the pandemic is over,” he cautions. Precautions need to be taken to prevent infections even after the jabs.
In March 2020, lockdowns were enforced in several countries across the world in quick successions. In March 2021, people are finally being vaccinated against COVID-19 all over the world. As the pandemic became a reality and people were forced into adopting a new normal against the virus, all were looking towards the scientists to come up with the vaccine that would save them. The estimated time to develop the vaccine, which is at least a year, has been validated. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, work to develop a vaccine against coronavirus diseases like SARS and MERS had established knowledge about the structure and function of coronavirus. This has accelerated development of varied technology platforms for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Critical interventions
The World Health organisation (WHO) has been working amidst controversies in tracking the pandemic, advising on critical interventions, distributing vital medicines to the needy and in the development of the vaccines. According to WHO, at least 7 different vaccines have been supplied to different countries since February 2021. Each country has its priority citizen list to receive the vaccines. This is one case where Nepal government deserves praise. Nepal has started vaccinating its population, starting with the frontline workers such as those in the medical profession, cleaners, journalists, senior citizens, public transportation drivers and people with chronic diseases. It was a Herculean task for me to take my octogenarian parents, aunts and uncles to be vaccinated on Falgun 23 but now that they have been successfully jabbed with no side effects, they are looking forward to the second jabs.
Even as the vaccines are being rolled out there are several rumours and speculations mainly in the social media. Many Nepali citizens are actually opting not to take the vaccines because of fear of side effects. However, many medical experts opine that vaccination is a must to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. There are several vaccines which save millions of lives each year. According to WHO, vaccines are expected to train and prepare the body’s natural defenses -- the immune system -- to recognise and fight off the viruses and bacteria that cause diseases. They prepare the body from getting ill by destroying the virus and bacteria once the medication injected by the vaccines gets enough time to be effective.
According to WHO, there are more than 200 additional vaccines under development. The vaccination that is being given in Nepal is Covishield. The collaboration of scientists globally to prepare the vaccines has been very effective. Scientists are now sharing how they spent hours locked up in their homes due to the situation created by the virus and kept working relentlessly to develop the vaccines. They had to collaborate virtually with other scientists whom they had never met, while working from home. This is the time to actually thank these people across the globe who put in their relentless efforts in adverse situations to come up with the medication to save humankind.
Although safe and effective vaccines are expected to be game changers in stopping the pandemic, experts say that as of now the basic principles of prevention from the pandemic by wearing masks, maintaining the required physical distancing and avoiding crowds is a must. Even after being vaccinated, if the basic principles of safety are neglected, there could be a risk of being infected. It is still not clear the extent to which the vaccines can protect against the disease or the infection rate and transmission. Though the long term effects are not known now, experts say that vaccines rarely cause log-term side effects. People with history of severe allergic reactions not related to vaccines or injectable medication are also advised by experts to get the COVID-19 shots but they have to be under observation for at least half an hour.

Safety measures
There has been news related to blood clotting after the injections were given, but verified evidence related to such news still has not been conclusively established. Whenever new medication and technology makes an entry there could be certain one-off incidents which are not desired but rather than blowing such events out of proportion, the bigger picture needs to be observed, says Dr. Onta.
The concerning scenario is that people are now moving around as though the pandemic has ended. We need to acknowledge the fact that there are second and third waves of the pandemic hitting the countries like India and several countries in Europe. So far Nepal seems to be faring well, but the responsibility of the government and the citizens now is to give and take the vaccines and abide by all the safety measures required to contain the virus.

(Sharma is a senior journalist and women rights advocate. namrata1964@yahoo.com Twitter handle: NamrataSharmaP)