Dechen Dolkar 

Around 180,000 doses of Pfizer Pediatric vaccine for children of age five to 11 and 90,090 doses of Pfizer for adults arrived in the country yesterday.

Lam Neten and the monks from Paro Rabdey administered the thruesel ceremony at Paro International Airport.

The Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering said that vaccines are very useful to protect children.

The vaccine was distributed to dzongkhags directly from Paro airport through refrigerated vans after the clearance by the drug regulatory authority.

There are around 83,277 children from age five to 11 and around 80,815 children aged 12 to 17 in the country. Thimphu has the highest with more than 15,348. Gasa has the lowest, 472.

The ministry of health (MoH) states that with the arrival of all the required vaccines to vaccinate children five to 11 years with both doses and booster for 12-17 years, the ministry will begin nationwide vaccination immediately.

Micro plans in each district have been completed.

According to the sources, the ministry plans to roll out vaccines for aged five to 11 from the second week of March for first dose and from the first week of April for the second dose.

Similarly, it is learned that the booster dose for children aged from 12 to 17 will roll out towards the fourth week of March.   

NITAG recommended five months interval from 2nd dose for the booster

Lyonchhen also said that we are grateful to His Majesty The King that we have given the best of the best vaccines in the world. “We have also received a command to roll out the second booster dose for the general public.”

Lyonchhen said that booster doses will be given every year after a six or ten-month gap.

Lyonchhen said that the booster doses for 12 to 17 years will be roll out soon.

The Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine approved for children aged five to 11 in worldwide.

The MoH has started the registration of the vaccine for five to 11 on February 21.

Health Minister Dechen Wangmo said that the registration rate for the vaccine so far is 50 percent only. Lyonpo urged for registration.

The MoH is urging everyone to register all the children between five  to 11 years of age for COVID-19 vaccines on the Bhutan Vaccine System (BVS) at bvs.moh.gov.bt.

The Ministry states that while on the spot registration services will also be facilitated at the time of vaccination, registering on the BVS will ensure a smooth vaccination programme.

“If a child has already been registered on BVS, you need not register them again. However, changes in personal details such as a residential address, if any, should be updated on BVS.”

So far there are around 60,000 children aged below five to newborn in the country.

Lyonchhen said that the vaccine for aged two to four is provisions to get as soon as approval is made as payments are already being made.