UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, recently handed over four refrigerated trucks for vaccine transportation to the Government of Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population in Kathmandu.
The refrigerated trucks will ensure safe delivery of essential vaccines from federal vaccine storage facilities to provincial and district vaccine stores. The delivery of these trucks is also timely, with the government’s upcoming Measles and Rubella (MR) “The Big Catch-up” vaccination campaign, which especially targets children who have not yet received any vaccines, also known as ‘zero-dose’ children, and those who have not completed their doses as per the national vaccination schedule. The integrated campaign will also provide other vaccines children may have missed out on during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as pentavalent, Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV), and Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV).
Participating in the handover ceremony were Dr Sangeeta Kaushal Mishra, Director General, Department of Health Services; Ms Temidayo Ogunrinu, Senior Country Manager for Nepal, Gavi; Ms Jee Hyun Rah, UNICEF Deputy Representative, and other officials from the government, Gavi and UNICEF.
Each truck is equipped with World Health Organization-approved refrigeration units with a 24 cubic metre storage capacity, capable of transporting nearly 4 million doses of MR vaccines. Using fewer trucks with larger capacity helps decrease carbon emissions compared to smaller, more frequent trips to all provinces of Nepal. UNICEF has allocated resources for the provision of these trucks, drawing from pooled funding made possible by supporters such as Gavi.
