The news for the second jab inoculation reveals a light at the end of the tunnel for the people in high-risk areas. Being under lockdown for nearly three months, residents of Phuentshogling now pin hopes on the second jab. They are looking forward to returning to normal lives and are expecting the travel restrictions to be lifted.
“After we receive the second jab, I hope and pray that everything will go back to the way it used to be and the COVID safety protocol of staying in quarantine for seven to fourteen days will also end soon. People who have suffered losses in their businesses and works because of the pandemic will once again see good days,” said Dorji Khandu, a resident in Phuentshogling.
“We are happy to learn that we will be vaccinated soon. We hope that it will lift the travel restrictions without having to undergo quarantine while travelling from high risk to low. Currently, the system is kind of differentiating people between high-risk and low-risk. We hope to get back to a normal lifestyle,” said Tandin Tshering, another resident.
As a measure to combat COVID-19, people travelling from high-risk undergo a minimum of seven days mandatory quarantine since last year. The National COVID-19 Task Force recently extended the quarantine duration for people travelling from the high-risk red zone to 14 days and 10 days for those travelling from the yellow zone.
Meanwhile, during the virtual meet the press session today, the Prime Minister and the health minister said the country needs a vaccination coverage of at least 80 per cent of the total population to secure herd immunity. This will help the government consider revising the quarantine protocols.
“During the pre-delta variant era, the herd immunity we had to obtain was only about seventy per cent. But delta variant being more contagious seventy per cent will not be enough. The minimum we need about eighty per cent of the total population not just the eligible population. For this, it will be difficult if we do not cover those under 17 years because twenty per cent of the population in our country is under 17 years,” said the Prime Minister.
“The current pandemic’s virus’s R-naught is between 8 and 10. So, we have to achieve more than eighty per cent of vaccinating the people. If we can achieve this, then we will not only revise the quarantine protocols but everything in general. There will be changes in the high-risk to low-risk quarantine protocol, quarantining people coming from outside the country and even the way we carry out surveillance in the high-risk areas,” said the Health Minister, Dechen Wangmo.
Meanwhile, raising concerns about the new variants, the Prime Minister cautioned people to strictly follow the COVID-19 safety protocols.
Kinzang Lhadon/Sonam Penjor
