Heena Sharma Blog

  When plotted on a graph, the curve of Bhutan's COVID-19 vaccination drive shoots upwards from the very first day, crossing Israel, United States, Bahrain and other countries known for vaccinating people rapidly. Those countries took months to reach where they are, painstakingly strengthening their vaccination campaigns in the face of rising coronavirus cases. But the story of Bhutan's vaccination campaign is nearly finished just 16 days after it began. The tiny Himalayan kingdom wedged between India and China has vaccinated nearly 93 per cent of its adult population since March 27. Overall, the country has vaccinated 62 per cent of its 800,000 people. The rapid rollout of the vaccine puts the tiny nation just behind Seychelles, which has given jabs to 66 per cent of its population of nearly 100,000 people. Its small population helped Bhutan move fast, but its success has also been attributed to its dedicated citizen volunteers, known as desk ups, and established cold...

Surgeons in Australia on Friday began a complex operation to separate 15-month-old Bhutanese conjoined twins Nima and Dawa Pelden . The girls are joined at the torso and share a liver and possibly a bowel, their doctor said, adding "our challenge will be to reconstruct their abdominal walls to close it over", the BBC reported. "What we will be looking for is simply what bits actually connect the two girls together," lead surgeon Joe Crameri told reporters on Friday. He said they would separate the liver, but there was one "unknown" --whether the girls shared a bowel. If it was, it would also be divided, he said. Nima and Dawa face each other, and cannot sit down together. They can stand if they do so at the same time, the BBC said. About 18 specialists in two teams, one for each girl, are taking part in the procedure at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital. The surgery is expected to last at least six hours. Read Complete Art...