“𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝-𝟏𝟗, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭.”
At 9.20am in Nganglam on Friday, Sangay Choden stood in front of more than 70 truck drivers in Dungsam Cement Corporation Ltd hall.
“I was not scared but nervous when people started gathering around me,” said Sangay Choden, a grocer adjacent to the DCCL colony.
Sangay Choden volunteered to be the first recipient immediately after she learnt officials were looking for a female born in the Monkey year. Her parents were excited to hear that she was chosen to mark the historic event.
Following the vaccination, Sangay walks uphill to her shop, a 10-minute walk. As soon as she was home, she enters the kitchen to prepare some Koka noodles. Six customers have been waiting for a meal.
After she serves them, she prepares doma for another group of men with stained lips and red teeth.
“Apart from a slight pinch from the injection, I didn’t feel anything,” says Sangay.
None of those 151 truck drivers who vaccinated after Sangay Choden has reported having any side effects.
Spread across three gewogs in Nganglam, 12 centres and 14 posts have been set up to vaccinate 3,571 registered people according to the health officials in Nganglam.
(Contributed by Tenzin Namgyal, Former Dzongkha Chief Reporter Kuensel, in Nganglam)
