Kathmandu, Mar 8 (IANS): Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli received his first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine as the government began the second phase of inoculation against the disease in the Himalayan country.

"Prime Minister Oli along with his wife Radhika Shakya received the vaccine at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu," Oli's Personal Secretariat said in a statement on Sunday.

Among the other government officials were also vaccinated on Sunday were Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali and Industry Minister Lekh Raj Bhatta, the Prime Minister's Office said.

According to the Health Ministry, it is vaccinating the people aged above 65 years in the second phase.

Official data showed there are 1.7 million people aged above 65 years in the country.

The Ministry said Nepal currently has over 1.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine after the 348,000 from the COVAX Facility, an international initiative co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners, arrived on Sunday.

Nepal started its vaccination drive against Covid-19 on January 27 and a total of 429,705 people in the priority groups including health workers, sanitisation workers, journalists and employees at diplomatic offices received shots in the first phase.