537 persons were vaccinated against the Covid-19 pandemic on Friday.

According to the latest vaccination update publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), Friday’s vaccine doses included 282 first doses and 255 second doses.

All of the doses were administered to atoll residents, as vaccination centers across the Greater Malé Region are closed on Fridays.

The total number of persons who completed both vaccine doses has risen to 294,364 whereas the number of persons who have received a first dose sits at 342,793.

The number of persons awaiting second doses currently sits at 48,429.

The incumbent administration of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih launched the “Covid-19 Dhifaau” inoculation drive on February 1 and recently the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) revealed that they are now in the final stages of the campaign and the aim is to vaccinate 90 percent of the eligible population by the end of August.

HECO Spokesperson Dr. Nazla Rafeeq has revealed that the doses of AstraZeneca vaccine Maldives has received and is currently administering, will expire in November. With this being said and as vaccination has limited shelf life of just six months since manufactured date, Dr. Nazla noted that they will conclude administering first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine by September 1.

Dr. Nazla said that they currently have the capacity to conclude first doses to the eligible population by the beginning of September, expressing concern over the recent low turnout at vaccination centers, Dr. Nazla urged the citizens to cooperate and get their vaccine jabs.

Dr. Nazla also revealed that they aim to vaccinate 95 percent of those above 18 years of age as well as school employees through the vaccination coverage, by the beginning of September, under the Education Ministry’s campaign to vaccinate the education sector employees and students.

While authorities approved Pfizer vaccine for children between the ages of 12 to 17 last week, President Solih has since revealed efforts to complete the first dose for all eligible children by the end of August.

HPA has also publicized a list of restrictions that unvaccinated persons will be facing, including a ban on domestic travel and disallowing tourists to check in to guesthouses if they are unvaccinated. Further, civil servants who have not been vaccinated yet will also be required to present negative PCR test results every 14 days from September 1.