Health Protection Agency (HPA) has revealed nearly 100,000 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the Maldives.
HPA revealed 1,108 people were administered the COVID-19 vaccine on February 26, all from the atolls. There was no vaccination in the Greater Male’ Region on February 26.
Since the beginning of the vaccination programme on February 1, a total of 99,419 people have been vaccinated including 69,725 people in the Male’ area and 29,694 people in the atolls.
The first round of the vaccination in the Maldives will see the rollout of 100,000 doses of Covishield vaccine, granted to the Maldives by India in January. Another 100,000 doses of the vaccine have been granted during the visit of the Minister of External Affairs of India Dr. S. Jaishankar to the Maldives this month.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government has also pledged to provide 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the Maldives. The government has also revealed further vaccines will be purchased from AstraZeneca, and will arrive soon.
Two shots of the vaccine are required to complete the dosage, with 4-12 weeks required between the two shots. Health Emergency Operation Centre (HEOC) stated the second dose will be administered 8 weeks after the first dose.