Around 50,000 children aged between 12 and 17 will receive their first dose of the Moderna vaccine in the next one week. The vaccination started today in nine districts. The Moderna is the second vaccine after Pfizer, approved for use in children in this age group.
The vaccination started in identified high-risk districts of Samdrup Jongkhar, Pema Gatshel, Zhemgang, Sarpang, Dagana, Chhuka, Samtse, Thimphu and Paro today.
Most of the children receiving the vaccine today thanked His Majesty The King and the government for providing them with this gift at a time when the vaccine is the only hope for fighting the virus.
“I’m very fortunate to get this vaccine today. So I am grateful to His Majesty and the government for providing this vaccine,” said a student in Thimphu.
“I would like to thank His Majesty and the government for the vaccine,” said a student in Samdrup Jongkhar.
Bhutan received 500,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine through the COVAX facility. But almost 90 per cent of the vaccine was used during the second nationwide vaccination drive. And more than 50,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine remain from the recent week-long campaign.
“This vaccination will not be enough for the entire country for 12 to 17 years children. Right now we are going to prioritise based on the risk assessment; seven districts are already at high risk. We also thought why not go entire district and vaccinate the children. But for that, we need to get more vaccines which the government is trying to get either Pfizer or Moderna. Once we get the vaccines, we will immediately roll it out for the rest of the children. Just now we cannot give a definite timeline but we are expecting by September or October,” said Dr Sonam Wangchuk, a member of the NI-TAG.
There are over 85,000 children in this age group in the country. The Drug Regulatory Authority authorized the emergency use of the Moderna vaccine for children on Monday. The European Medicine Agency had approved to roll out the Moderna vaccine for children in this age group.
Choni Dema
Edited by Tandin Phuntsho
