Former Attorney General and the current Vice President of the opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Aishath Azima Shakoor has stated she does not believe the claims that government officials and healthcare workers are being given a different vaccine to those administered to the public.
Azima made the statement after some opposition activists began claiming on social media that the vaccine administered to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and senior government officials as well as healthcare workers on February 1 was the Pfizer vaccine which has been authorised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), rather than the Covishield vaccine which has been prepared for public roll-out. These claims have been strongly rebuffed by the President’s Spokesperson Mohamed Mabrook Azeez, who noted the President received the Covishield vaccine in front of all cameras to strengthen public confidence in the vaccine.
Meanwhile, PPM Vice President and former AG Aishath Azima Shakoor also rejected the social media claims, stating she does not believe the doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals will take another variant of a vaccine and mislead the public to take a more inferior or different vaccine. She expressed faith and confidence in the healthcare professionals, and thanked them for their services to the public amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Covishield vaccine is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, based on the research of Oxford University and AstraZeneca. The vaccine has the same composition and formula as the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.