The government has administered more than 43 per cent of the target population against COVID-19 with a single dose. According to the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), 8, 581,195 people (43.1 per cent population) were vaccinated with single dose and 6,500,463 (32.6 percent) with full dose across the nation as of Thursday.

As per MoHP, in total, 23,568 doses of vaccines were administered on Thursday alone.

Four districts, including Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur and Kaski, have more than 500 active cases each whereas Mustang and Mugu districts have zero active cases and 15 other districts have more than 200 active cases each.

The death rate currently stands at 1.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, Nepal is all set to receive 100,620 doses of Pfizer vaccines through the COVAX facility on October 25.

Dr Bibek Kumar Lal, Director at the Family Welfare Division, under the Department of Health Services, said that people with critical health conditions will be prioritized for the Pfizer vaccines.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Thursday that the unequal distribution of anti-COVID vaccines between rich and poor countries could prolong the pandemic.

Citing the latest figures from The People’s Charity, WHO said that Africa had received the lowest number of anti-COVID vaccines in the world. With less than 5 percent of Africa’s population being vaccinated, most high- and middle-income countries have inoculated at least 40 percent of their total population.

According to Johns Hopkins University in the United States, Bhutan has the highest percentage of fully vaccinated population among other South Asian countries. So far, 65.82 percent of the total population has been fully vaccinated in Bhutan.

After Bhutan, 65.82 per cent population have been fully vaccinated in Maldives and 58.56 per cent in Sri Lanka.

Nepal, which is ranked fourth in South Asia, has fully vaccinated 32.6 percent as of November 20.

After Nepal, 20.55 per cent population in India and 16.07 per cent in Pakistan have been fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In Bangladesh, 11.49 percent have been fully vaccinated so far, while in Afghanistan, only 1.13 percent have been fully vaccinated.

According to the Ministry of Health, Covishield, Vero Cell, Johnson & Johnson, Japanese and Swedish AstraZeneca vaccines are currently being used in Nepal. Apart from receiving grant assistance, Nepal has also purchased Covishield from India and Vero Cell from China.

Since the start of the vaccination campaign, more than 15 million vaccines have been administered till November 20, while 61 percent of the vaccines were China-made Vero Cell.