The total number of people that have been vaccinated now stands at 298,418 with 90 people receiving their second jabs on Friday.

Further, 783 persons received their first vaccine dose on Friday, pushing the number of persons who have received a first dose to 364,847.

While the vaccination drive is being conducted across the country, vaccination centers in the Greater Male' Region are closed on Fridays. Hence, all Friday's numbers are from outlying atolls.

With the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC)'s announcement that the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive launched in February is now in its final stages, more people have been receiving their jabs. Further, various protocols and restrictions have been announced for unvaccinated persons.

The government aims to have 95 percent of the eligible adult population vaccinated by the end of August. While authorities have now begun to administer the Pfizer vaccine to children aged 12 to 17, work is underway to complete first doses of all eligible children before the end of the month.

HPA is working with the education ministry to support the government's aim, with awareness programmes held for parents to ensure that all school children are given consent to receive vaccination.

While President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has called on all eligible to "go and get vaccination shots now", he stressed that Maldives is “among the few countries that have been able to secure enough vaccines to immunize the entire eligible population”.