Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA) has authorised the use of the Moderna and Janssen brands of COVID-19 vaccine in the Maldives.
MFDA announced Moderna and Janssen were approved for emergency use, with consideration to the COVID-19 situation in the Maldives. Both vaccines have been authorised to be administered to people over the age of 18.
Moderna vaccine was developed by American pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Moderna, the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). It is authorised for use at some level in 45 countries including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore and countries in the European Union (EU).
The Janssen vaccine, also known as the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine, was developed by the pharmaceutical arm of the American multinational company Johnson & Johnson. The vaccine has been granted an emergency use authorisation by the US Food and Drug Administration and a conditional marketing authorisation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
With the authorisation of Moderna and Janssen vaccines, MFDA has authorised a total of six COVID-19 vaccines in the Maldives. The other vaccines authorised for use in the Maldives are Covishield, Sinopharm, Pfizer and Sputnik V. Currently, the Maldives is only administering Sinopharm and Pfizer.