| SLIDESHOW |
Opening scenes from Bhutan’s Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout
THIMPHU, BHUTAN: MARCH 27, 2021 | Updated April 18, 2021
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1. Registering For the Vaccine
Bhutanese citizens from all walks of life signed up to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. The government organized dedications and prayers to the Medicine Buddha across the country in an instinctive use of religious tradition to boost the nationwide effort and counter vaccine-hesitancy. In the capital, Thimphu, the site of inaugural jabs, Buddhist altars, and votive offerings set the stage.
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Opening scenes from Bhutan’s Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout
THIMPHU, BHUTAN: MARCH 27, 2021 | Updated April 18, 2021
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2. Prayers for Healing
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An hour before the first vaccine shots, Bhutanese officials and foreign dignitaries gather in the inner sanctum of Semtokha Dzong, Bhutan’s historic monastery fortress from the early 1600s. A dedication by senior state monks from the nation’s highest religious order, the Dratshang Lhentshog, was televised across the country for the benefit of the kingdom's Buddhist population.
Opening scenes from Bhutan’s Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout
THIMPHU, BHUTAN: MARCH 27, 2021 | Updated April 18, 2021
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3. Butterlamps
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A ziggurat of devotional butterlamps lit on the first day of vaccinations offers the light of hope that many people across the world have needed during the ongoing pandemic. Butterlamps are lit to memorialize people who have died and to relieve the sufferings of those who are sick or at risk. In the Himalayan tradition, butterlamps are thought to dispel ignorance and bring spiritual illumination.
Opening scenes from Bhutan’s Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout
THIMPHU, BHUTAN: MARCH 27, 2021 | Updated April 18, 2021
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4. Science-based leaders
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Bhutan's Foreign Minister, Lyonpo (Dr.) Tandi Dorji, a pediatrician by training, seated beside the Indian Ambassador (yellow shawl). To the right, Bhutan’s Health Minister, Lyonpo Dechen Wangmo, a Yale public health school alum with a degree in cardiopulmonary science from Northeastern University. Bhutan's sitting prime minister is a medical surgeon who heads a science-based leadership guided by the Buddhist faith.
Opening scenes from Bhutan’s Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout
THIMPHU, BHUTAN: MARCH 27, 2021 | Updated April 18, 2021
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5. Dignitaries Reading Prayers
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The Health Minister and the Indian Ambassador flanked by two high-ranking national council members during a reading of excerpts from the Buddhist scriptures before the first vaccinations. Such rituals pass without comment in a country where Buddhism is an essential, practical part of daily life. The nation's Buddhist institutions are often consulted for metaphysical guidance in deciding practical matters of state.
Opening scenes from Bhutan’s Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout
THIMPHU, BHUTAN: MARCH 27, 2021 | Updated April 18, 2021
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6. India-Bhutan Friendship
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Bhutan was the first country to receive the Covishield vaccines from India through a vaccine diplomacy initiative called Vaccine Maitri (Friendship). The kingdom began modernizing in the late 1950s with Indian assistance under the Colombo Plan. The two countries share ties in trade, hydropower, culture, and development. As the birthplace of Buddhism, India is an important spiritual beacon for the Bhutanese people.
Opening scenes from Bhutan’s Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout
THIMPHU, BHUTAN: MARCH 27, 2021 | Updated April 18, 2021
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7. Opening the vaccines
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Minutes before the first Covid-19 vaccine shots are opened to the public, the young Health Minister of Bhutan, Lyonpo (Dasho) Dechen Wangmo, opens the first boxes held in cold storage since January because February was considered an inauspicious "Black Month." The minister is a global epidemiologist with a degree from Yale University.
Opening scenes from Bhutan’s Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout
THIMPHU, BHUTAN: MARCH 27, 2021 | Updated April 18, 2021
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8. Ministerial Jab
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Bhutan's Foreign Minister, Lyonpo (Dr.) Tandi Dorji, a pediatrician by training, receives his first jab during the inaugural day of vaccinations. The minister was preceded by Ninda Dema, a 30-year-old with auspicious astrological alignments. The Foreign Minister is the co-author of The Medical History of Bhutan, a chronicle of health and disease in the kingdom from the ancient Bon period to the present (second edition, 2018).
Blending religious tradition with faith in science, Bhutan rolled out a rapid, international-headline-grabbing vaccination campaign, open to all citizens at once. These exclusive opening images reveal the religious underpinnings of the kingdom’s ambitious undertaking. To read the full story, please see: How Bhutan’s rapid vaccine rollout combined religious tradition and scientific pragmatism.
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