At a time when all the countries in the world are racing against the time to give Covid-19 vaccine to most of their population, the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has created a record. The country may not be well-known as an economic powerhouse, but when it comes to giving vaccine shots, over 60 per cent of Bhutan’s population has received a first jab.

Surprisingly, the Himalayan kingdom started its two-dose vaccination drive just 11 days ago. It is using the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine donated by India. By Wednesday, 470,000 people out of 770,000 (61.03%) had been administered the first shot.

Ninda Dema, a 30-year-old woman born in the year of the Monkey as per the Buddhist astrology, became the country’s first to receive the shot on March 27. She was given the vaccine jab at a school-turned-vaccination center in the capital of Thimphu.

“Let this small step of mine today help us all prevail through this illness,” Ninda was quoted by the Kuensel newspaper as saying after being selected to take the first jab. And in just nine days, Bhutan has achieved what many other countries couldn’t.