KATHMANDU, Nepal—Nepal was on the right track to defeat the pandemic with the launch of its vaccination campaign on Jan. 27, even as several Western countries lagged behind in the vaccination race.
But the euphoria that saw a decline in COVID-19 cases and a successful rollout of vaccines didn’t last long. Lockdown was eased in the following months, and political rallies and protests, religious festivals, and public movements turned into superspreader events. The result was tragically predictable: Nepal was hit hard by a deadlier second wave.
