KATHMANDU, July 1 -- Much has been said about 'vaccine apartheid' and how instead of levelling out rich and poor, it has widened inequities. Nepal today is living proof of this.
As the government lurches rudderless from one failure to another - nowhere does SARS-CoV-2 have such fertile ground to spread as in Nepal.
The government declared a 'smart lockdown' after infection rates dropped, but with only 2.6% of the population vaccinated, the virus is getting ready to pounce back. In 2020, the first wave actually started only after the lockdown was eased and lifted. It can happen again.
The Delta variant is three times more virulent than the original virus, it rides unvaccinated hosts in crowded places, who do not wear masks, and do not ha...