The government will review the existing restrictions and decide on its relaxations only after the second dose of the COVID vaccine is administered. The health minister shared this yesterday during a press briefing. Lyonpo also urged people to follow the COVID safety protocols even after getting vaccinated.
Health Minister Dechen Wangmo said a person is not fully protected until he/she gets the second jab. The ministry is also vaccinating the rest of the eligible population who were not vaccinated during the nationwide vaccination campaign.
“For Ministry of Health we have the programme where we are ‘Reaching the unreached’; so this is basically catering to people who are bedridden, people who are severely disabled, who cannot come out of the house. We are providing vaccination services at their doorstep, at their homes,” Lyonpo said.
The programme will end on 13th April. After this, vaccination will be carried out for people who have deferred their jabs due to reasons such as pregnancy and the newly eligible. However, it comes with a condition.
“After the 13th of April, we will make the vaccine available in all our health facilities, but you will have to wait because each vial of vaccine have ten shots so unless we have ten people registered we will not vaccinate individuals. So you might be asked to wait after the 13th. Although the vaccine will be available, it will not be readily available for you to avail,” Lyonpo added.
The 2nd dose will be planned after eight to 12 weeks of the first dose. Meanwhile, the Health Ministry is also exploring COVID vaccine for the young age group.
Kinzang Lhadon/ Kelzang Choden
