By this weekend, Bhutan would have fully vaccinated almost 80 per cent of its population against COVID-19. The health ministry started administering the second dose of vaccination for children between 12 and 17 years in some 15 districts on 26th October. The campaign will also vaccinate adults who had their first dose of vaccination in July.
Except for Bumthang, Monggar, Lhuentse, Punakha, and Wangdue Phodrang Dzongkhags, the five-day vaccination campaign will cover some 45,000 children between 12 and 17 years in 15 districts.
According to a member of the National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group (Ni-TAG), Dr Sonam Wangchuk, some 6,000 adults across the country will also receive their second dose of the COVID vaccine.
“They received the Moderna vaccine as their first dose, so they will get the same vaccine as the second dose,” he said.
The NI-TAG also said that about 15,000 children between 12 and 17 years in the five districts were fully vaccinated last month. Dr Sonam Wangchuk said that due to the shortage of the Moderna vaccine, they were provided with the Pfizer vaccine.
After the vaccination campaign ends, Bhutan will achieve herd immunity. Herd Immunity is achieved when at least 80 per cent of the total population of a country are fully vaccinated against a disease. NI-TAG maintains that the figure would always fluctuate as it is difficult to establish the exact coverage of vaccination.
“Considering that the eligible population is above 12 years of age, we are expecting that at least 80 per cent of the total population will be vaccinated by the end of this week,” he said.
However, with the emergence of the ‘Delta Plus’ variant of the coronavirus in the UK and the ‘Sub-Delta’ variant in India, the NI-TAG and the health ministry urged people to not become complacent and practice safety protocols at all times.
Choni Dema
Edited by Chayku
