Skip to main content

Embarrassing seeing government begging for buying Covid vaccine

 Embarrassing seeing government begging for buying Covid vaccine

I am wondering why our government is making the people nervous when it talks about its financial inability to buy required dozes of Covid 19 vaccine. Time and again, the government concerned officials are publicly saying that the government is requesting donor organizations to help it buying vaccines for its citizens. Is not it embarrassing?

Some of the donor communities have already pledged to provide financial support to the government for purchasing Covid 19 vaccines. However, it would still be much better for the government to do some homework to find out exactly how much money it really requires and then only urge business enterprises, philanthropic organisations and foreign aid agencies, if needed.

My conservative calculation comes to be around NRs 14 billion not NRs 48 billion as claimed by the government as per the following calculations. For this, I do not see any reasons for the government to be panicking.

Nepal’s population is 30 million. Of which, around 20% or 6 million children are under 14 years who are not needed to be vaccinated because the available vaccines have not been tested for the children. About 5 million people are in the gulf regions and other foreign lands as migrant workers. Of the remaining 19 million, at-least 1 million people can afford to pay for the vaccines subject to the government buys the vaccines from India which hardly costs about ICRs. 200/- for single dose equivalent NRs 360/-. For the remaining 18 million people, it may costs around NRs.14 billion for double dose vaccine, definitely not NRs.48 billion

Considering the other vaccines, Covishield vaccine from India is most suitable for Nepal as it does not need to be worried about storing the vaccine. It can be transported and stored at cold temperatures, usually between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius. Other vaccine may require -70 to -80 Celsius for refrigeration which cannot be afforded and maintained by Nepal.  

The Kathmandu Post

Friday, January 22, 2021

Nepal to rely mostly on foreign aid to buy Covid-19 vaccines for its people, officials say
 

The Covid-19 pandemic has hurt the economy and government revenue has taken a hit resulting in a resource crunch.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has, in the meantime, announced midterm elections which will require additional funds. But the government is struggling to generate resources to procure Covid-19 vaccines for Nepali citizens and is lobbying with donors for funds.

“We are generating the maximum amount required for purchasing coronavirus vaccines from multilateral and bilateral donors,” said Finance Secretary Sishir Dhungana.

Continue reading

https://kathmandupost.com/national/2021/01/22/nepal-to-rely-mostly-on-foreign-aid-to-buy-covid-19-vaccines-for-its-people-officials-say

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Causes and consequences of self-immolation

Self-immolation—the act of setting oneself on fire—is one of the most extreme, painful, and lethal forms of self-harm and suicide. Globally, it represents a profound intersection of psychiatric distress, intense social strain, and political expression. Causes of Self-Immolation: The underlying motivations for self-immolation vary significantly across different regions, cultures, and socioeconomic demographics. ·      Political and Ideological Protest: In Western nations and certain East Asian histories, self-immolation is highly associated with political statement . Individuals use it as a highly visible, shocking public act to draw attention to perceived systemic injustices, war, or government policy. ·      Severe Psychiatric Illness: Globally, a vast majority of individuals who attempt self-immolation suffer from severe, often untreated mental health conditions. The most common diagnoses include major depressive disorder , schizophren...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mid-term election and referendum simultaneously

  Mid-term election and referendum simultaneously The people are tired of politicians who make wonderful promises but have miserably failed to fulfill their rosy promises. As a result, they seem to be gradually losing their credibility by days. However, having said that, the level of political awareness among the majority number of the people is still low which has been the advantage for the politicians to lure them towards their irresponsible and dirty politics. In the recent past weeks, we saw thousands of innocent people out in the streets to cheer up the so-called senior leaders who have miserably failed to lead the nation. We can see now the senior leaders and their parties are busy in forming another coalition government following the Supreme Court’s decision to nullify the unification of NCP a few days ago thus splitting the CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist. It was, in fact, a huge legal blow to them. This situation has created another political chaos in the country which might in...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Legend Falls: Remembering Mountaineering Icon Nirmal Purja

The mountaineering world has lost one of its brightest, most unstoppable lights. It is with a profoundly heavy heart that I wish to express my profound grief over the tragic passing of Nirmal “Nimsdai” Purja, who lost his life alongside his brave crew in a devastating avalanche on Broad Peak, Pakistan. To say Nimsdai was a legend is an understatement. He was a force of nature who redefined the absolute limits of human endurance and capability. From shattering world records by climbing all 14 of the world’s highest peaks in just six months, to leading the historic first winter ascent of K2, he showed the world that "nothing is impossible." More importantly, he brought long-overdue pride, global recognition, and respect to the Nepali climbing and Sherpa community. Nims now rests eternally among the giant peaks he loved and conquered so fiercely. His fearless spirit, boundless energy, and ultimate motto—"Giving up is not in the blood"—will live on forever in the h...
Post a Comment
Read more