Bhutan’s experience with COVID-19 vaccination in 2021

Dorji, Thinley; Tamang, Saran Tenzin

doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005977

Cited by 23 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Bhutan started its first nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign in March 2021. The campaign resulted in a vaccination coverage of >94% of its eligible population [11,12]. The Oxford-AstraZeneca (Covishield) vaccine, which is a replication-defective chimpanzee adenoviral vector expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (also known as ChA-dOx1), was used in the first national vaccine rollout campaign.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survival Analysis of Symptomatic COVID-19 in Phuentsholing Municipality, Bhutan

Gyeltshen¹,

Tsheten

Dorji³

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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COVID-19 is a disease that is caused by a highly transmissible and pathogenic novel coronavirus: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). All of the COVID-19 positive cases in Bhutanese travellers returning via the Phuentsholing point of entry, the local population, and Indian nationals were isolated in the Phuentsholing COVID-19 isolation ward, Bhutan. This study aimed to identify the risk factors for developing symptoms among COVID-19 positive patients in this ward. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the data regarding COVID-19 positive cases in the Phuentsholing COVID-19 isolation ward from 28 May 2020 to 31 May 2021. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to identify the risk factors of developing COVID-19 symptoms. There were 521 patients in the study; 368 (70.6%) were males and 153 (29.4%) were females. The mean age was 32 years (with a range of 1–78 years), and 290 (56.0%) reported at least one symptom. The median length of isolation was eight days (with a range of 3–48 days). The common symptoms were: cough (162, 31.0%), fever (135, 26.0%), and headache (101, 19.0%). In the multivariable Cox regression, vaccinated patients were 77.0% (p = 0.047) less likely to develop symptoms compared to those who were not vaccinated. The front line workers and the mini-dry port (MDP) workers were 15 (p = 0.031) and 41 (p < 0.001) times more likely to be symptomatic compared to returning travellers. The young and economically active population group was most commonly affected by COVID-19. The presence of risk factors, such as being front line workers, MDP workers, or not being vaccinated against COVID-19, meant that patients had a higher probability of developing symptoms of COVID-19.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survival Analysis of Symptomatic COVID-19 in Phuentsholing Municipality, Bhutan

Gyeltshen¹,

Tsheten

Dorji³

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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“…Considering testing as the main strategy to prevent and contain epidemics, RT-PCR testing facilities were expanded from one at the Royal Center for Disease Control (RCDC) to 5 centers across the country during the pandemic period. This proved effective for handling sample surge during community outbreaks and mass testing [ 12 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite being a resource-constrained country, as of 31 July 2021, Bhutan had successfully vaccinated over 90% adults. Bhutan has one of the highest testing rates in the South East Asia region [ 12 ]. This study examines the barriers and facilitators to implementing COVID-19 testing in Bhutan by investigating the country’s early response.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing COVID-19 testing: a qualitative study in Bhutan

Yangchen¹,

Assan

et al. 2022

glob health res policy

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Background The COVID-19 pandemic has reaffirmed an all-knowing truth—that health is central in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. To fully control the infection in a community, accurate testing of suspected cases along with effective tracing and appropriate treatment (3Ts) is still crucial to slowing transmission of COVID-19 virus This study explored factors that influenced COVID-19 testing in Bhutan. The lessons learned from this study could serve as a roadmap to strengthen the current respond to COVID-19 and for future outbreaks, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Methods The study employed an exploratory qualitative design. Data collection methods included interviews with key informants with a purposively selected sample of 20 participants. The interview findings were augmented by reviewing both published literature and unpublished documents.For the analysis of qualitative interviews, a hybrid approach of inductive and deductive coding and theme development was conducted to analyze findings. A tailored version of the WHO Health System Framework incorporating the Essential Public Health Function was used to guide data interpretation. Results Political will through the influence and leadership of the King of Bhutan played a crucial role in raising attention to the problem, and provision of adequate financial and technical relief to ensure that all people irrespective of their socioeconomic status do not pay to get tested of COVID-19. A compassionate leadership, Whole of Society approach is backed by the scientific community, functional health systems and community-based approaches, use of information technology for awareness creation and improved surveillance system, and fast-tracked COVID-19 testing service delivery. Conclusion Bhutan’s success relied greatly on multi-sectoral and systematic approach during policy design, implementation and monitoring, and active collaborative efforts involving consultation and engagements with a broad range of local (community members), national and global actors for accelerated COVID-19 testing. These efforts were made possible through improved health governance and leadership at all levels of the society.

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“…Bhutan began the first phase of the mass immunization campaign with India’s donation of 500,000 AstraZeneca vaccines on 27 March 2021. 5 Within 2 weeks by 9 April 2021, 470,000 adults had received their first AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccination dose, corresponding to 60% of Bhutan’s total population ( Figure 1 ). The second-dose vaccination drive started on 20 July 2021, and Bhutan administered the second dose to 90% of adults within a week with vaccines, i.e., Sinopharm, Moderna granted by India, China, and the USA.…”

Section: Bhutanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Status of COVID-19 vaccination around South Asia

Hayat

Uzair

Syed

et al. 2022

Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics

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The public health sector and the global economy are facing the challenges of the epidemic of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) since December 2019. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an emerging outbreak and spreading rapidly across the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic of unprecedented proportions has devastated almost all countries and pervaded globally. However, various vaccines have been developed to achieve immunity against the virus and limit transmissibility. By 18 November 2021, 52.6% of the world population got first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. South Asia shares 15% fully vaccinated and 22.6% partially vaccinated population in the world. The 56.5% of South Asian Association Regional Cooperation (SAARC) regions, consisting of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, and Bhutan, got the first shot of COVID-19 vaccine, whereas 30.5% were fully vaccinated. India has the highest percentage of the vaccinated population of about 46.5% among SAARC countries. Although South Asian countries have unstable multiple socio-economic factors, including poverty, overpopulation, low literacy about medical care and medical systems, etc., the increasing trend in vaccination status has been observed. The high percentage of health budgets of SAARC countries was utilized for purchasing COVID-19 vaccines. This report observes that South Asian countries have been significantly tackling the threats of COVID-19.

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Bhutan’s experience with COVID-19 vaccination in 2021

Cited by 23 publications

References 8 publications

Survival Analysis of Symptomatic COVID-19 in Phuentsholing Municipality, Bhutan

Survival Analysis of Symptomatic COVID-19 in Phuentsholing Municipality, Bhutan

Factors influencing COVID-19 testing: a qualitative study in Bhutan

Status of COVID-19 vaccination around South Asia

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