Where the pandemic is reinforcing concern for the common good

Not all small Himalayan states adjacent to India are in the terrible straits to which the coronavirus has reduced Nepal.

Thimphu, Bhutan's capital from above

 The tiny, rigidly well-organized, little constitutional monarchy in adjacent Bhutan responded to the advent of vaccines with the kingdom's customary efficiency. According to NPR:

It took less than two weeks for the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan to vaccinate almost all of its eligible population.

The country's vaccination campaign kicked off on March 27. By April 8, according to the Ministry of Health, 93% of eligible adults had gotten their first dose. Officials said 472,139 people between ages 18 and 104 had been vaccinated as of that date, and they urged other eligible individuals to follow suit. 

In a statement, Health Minister Dasho Dechen Wangmo described the campaign as a "sense of purpose that each of us is embracing to protect our country and the people we love." She urged individuals to get vaccinated to protect themselves and their communities — as well as King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. ...

... State-owned newspaper Kuensel stated in an editorial that the country's efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic have been "exemplary right from the beginning," thanks to leadership, front-line workers and what the paper describes as a cooperative public.

While noting it's premature to celebrate before people have had their second doses, it said that the country's size had certainly contributed to the vaccine's successful rollout — and that this has implications for tackling other issues related to the economy, unemployment and technology.

"As we realise the advantage of our smallness from the vaccination programme, it is a lesson too valuable to not replicate in our other endeavours," it concluded.

 Bhutan may not be a paradise of happiness, but cultivating a societal ethic of care for the common good sure pays off in a pandemic.