A consignment of Japanese encephalitis and inactivated polio vaccines was set to arrive in Nepal within April. Similarly, that of diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT) and pneumococcal conjugate are supposed to arrive in May.

But, the April consignment hasn’t arrived and agencies concerned don’t know if and when the consignment due in May will arrive as the supply of crucial vaccines has been halted due to the lockdown imposed in most countries to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

"We are concerned about the halt in supply of the crucial vaccines," Dr Jhalak Sharma, chief of immunisation section at the Family Welfare Division at the Department of Health Services told the Post. "If the supply is not resumed immediately, we will have problems. Thousands of children will be deprived of vaccines.”

The lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of Covid 19 has affected regular immunisation programmes for over a month.

Although regular immunisation resumed after a series of measles outbreaks in different parts of the country, including Kathmandu and Lalitpur, Sharma said that existing stock of vaccines can last only for two to three months.

"The problem is that the vaccine is not manufactured in our country and there are limited companies around the world that manufacture them," said Sharma.

With uncertainty over the delivery of vaccines, the health ministry has drawn the attention of international agencies including the UN Children's Fund, GAVI, and the World Health Organization's country office in Nepal.

"We have informed representatives of our partner agencies about the diminishing stock of vaccines, and sought their help to resume supplies," said Bhogendra Dotel, director at the Management Division under the Department of Health Services. "It is not only the matter of our concern, those international agencies which have been working along with us to fight preventable diseases are also doing their best to prevent the crisis."

Dotel said that the disruption of the supplies was not only a problem for Nepal, but also for other countries across the globe.

UNICEF said that vaccine bottlenecks from Covid lockdowns put children's lives at stake.

The UN agency said on Friday said help is urgently needed to distribute vaccines worldwide amid the dramatic shortages caused by Covid-19 restrictions. It has warned that youngsters’ lives “are at stake” owing to the dramatic decline in commercial flights and limited availability of charters.

“UNICEF is calling for support to unblock a massive backlog in #vaccine shipments due to unprecedented logistical constraints related to Covid-19 lockdowns in some countries," UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado, tweeted. UNICEF said that since late March, there has been a 70 to 80 per cent reduction in shipments of essential vaccines.

The government procures five of the 11 vaccines given to all children across the country under the regular immunisation programme. "We cannot discontinue the vaccine for a long time," said Dotel. "We are seriously working to ensure smooth supply of vaccines."