By Monday’s end, over 174,000 persons had been fully vaccinated against the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the latest statistics publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), a total of 1,409 persons received vaccination doses across the Maldives on Monday.

These included 441 first doses of which 361 were atoll residents and 80 persons were residing in the Greater Malé Region, whereas the number of persons who received second vaccination shots were 968. This included 331 Greater Malé residents and 637 residents spanning outlying atolls.

Since the government launched its “Covid-19 Dhifaau” inoculation drive on February 1, a total of 174,259 persons have received full doses whereas the number of persons to have received first doses so far sits at 312,574.

Due to the strengthening of measures nationwide effective May 26, residents across the Greater Malé Region will be required to seek police permits 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.

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.