4,276‬ persons received Covid-19 vaccination doses on Thursday

4,276 persons were inoculated under the government’s “Covid-19 Dhifaau” vaccination drive, on Thursday.

Latest figures publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), revealed that Thursday’s vaccinations included 858 first doses and 3,418 second doses, all of which were administered to 1,420 Greater Malé residents and 2,856 residents of outlying atolls.

The over 3,400 second doses were administered to 1,206 residents of the capital city and 2,212 persons residing in outlying atolls, whereas 214 Greater Malé residents and 644 atoll residents received first doses.

There are currently three mobile teams across six vaccination centers in the capital region, as well as 176 vaccination centers spanning outlying atolls.

With the latest figures, a total of 314,010 persons have completed both doses of vaccination against coronavirus, with 388,053 persons having received a first dose.

The number of persons awaiting second doses of the vaccine currently sits at 74,043.

The incumbent administration of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih launched the “Covid-19 Dhifaau” inoculation drive on February 1.

More residents across the Maldives had begun attending vaccination centers for their first jabs as authorities set a deadline for the administration of first doses of AstraZeneca vaccine Maldives received, at September 1, as the supply will expire in November.

HPA announced restrictions for unvaccinated persons from September 1 earlier, however, on Wednesday it was revealed that the implementation of the restrictions will be delayed, as the government is currently working on launching an adequate application through which unvaccinated persons may be tracked and monitored.

Although the government earlier targeted to vaccinate 95 percent of those eligible through the free vaccination drive, by the beginning of September, authorities have revealed that they are not far from reaching the goal, with 85 percent of the eligible population aged 18 and above having received first doses and 84 percent of the eligible population above 12 years having received doses as well.

Restrictions that unvaccinated persons will be facing include 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.

Authorities only recently launched a vaccination drive for children aged 12 to 17. This campaign is being conducted together with the education ministry, with awareness programmes held for parents as their consent is required for children's vaccination.