1,421 persons were vaccinated against the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic on Sunday.

According to the latest statistics publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) 393 first doses of which 294 were atoll residents and 99 persons were residing in the Greater Malé Region, were administered on Sunday, whereas the number of persons who received second vaccination shots were 1,028. This included 326 Greater Malé residents and 702 residents spanning outlying atolls.

Since the government launched its “Covid-19 Dhifaau” inoculation drive on February 1, a total of 173,291 persons have received full doses whereas the number of persons to have received first doses so far sits at 312,133.

Due to the strengthening of measures nationwide effective May 26, residents across the Greater Malé Region will be required to seek a police permit through the Maldives Police Service (MPS)’s permit portal before attending vaccination centers.

On May 12, Maldives approved the emergency use of Sputnik V Vaccine in its battle against Covid-19. Maldives is using the Oxford AstraZeneca Covishield vaccination, Sinopharm as well as Pfizer vaccines in its inoculation programme and the Russia-produced vaccine is the fourth addition to the “Covid-19 Dhifaau” vaccination drive. On June 6 Maldives approved the emergency use of Spain’s Moderna vaccine as well as the Janssen vaccine manufactured by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson and Johnson. With this a total of six vaccinations are currently approved for emergency use in the Maldives.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih launched the inoculation drive on February 1 with the Covishield vaccinations produced by India’s Serum Institute.

Healthcare authorities halted administering the India-sourced Covishield vaccinations at a time there have been reports that the Maldives is low on Covishield supply. However, authorities have since revealed that they expect to receive a shipment of the Covishield vaccination soon, and that efforts are currently underway to procure supplies.

Further, the first shipment of AstraZeneca vaccine doses procured through an agreement earlier, is also expected to be received this ongoing month.

Shedding light on the topic during a press briefing when questioned by media regarding the matter, Minister of Health Ahmed Naseem had revealed that shipments of the 700,000 AstraZeneca doses are expected to arrive within three months, with the first batch of 200,000 doses set to arrive in late June.