Health Protection Agency (HPA) has commenced the COVID-19 vaccination of pregnant women, using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
HPA opened registration for the vaccination of pregnant women on May 16. HPA said vaccines will be administered on registered individuals on a first-come first-serve basis. Registration is carried out through an online form.
Pregnant women are not eligible to receive the Covishield and Sinopharm vaccines, which were first rolled out in the Maldives. With the latest surge in COVID-19 cases in the Maldives, number of cases among pregnant women has started to increase significantly. As they were not eligible for the vaccine, number of pregnant women requiring hospitalisation due to COVID-19 has been increasing in the Maldives.
Pfizer is one of the four vaccines authorised for use in the Maldives by the Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA). Maldives received 5,500 doses of the Pfizer vaccine on March 25 from the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access facility (COVAX).