President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has expressed gratitude to India for providing the Maldives with its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines.
The President made the remarks while speaking to the nation to announce the arrival of the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines to the Maldives from India. In his remarks, President Solih thanked the Indian people, its government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the generosity.
On this note, President Solih assured that the government would secure enough doses of COVID-19 vaccines to cater to the entire population of the Maldives, including residents and foreigners. He affirmed that the government would provide vaccination at no cost, noting the rollout of the vaccines would commence in the coming months.
The President highlighted the government’s continuous efforts over the past 10-months in response to the pandemic. Concluding his remarks, the President encouraged the public to continue adhering to the guidelines of health professionals.
100,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine arrived in the Maldives on January 20, shortly after the President’s remarks. Covishield is based on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, co-developed by the Oxford University and AstraZeneca to combat COVID-19.