MMR vaccination arranged for migrant workers

The Ministry of Health has announced its decision to roll-out vaccinations to migrant workers in the Maldives.

While speaking on RaajjeTV's "FalaSuruhee" program, the ministry's Senior Policy Director Hassan Shiyam disclosed that the ministry has observed individuals between 18-40 years of age with incomplete dosages while compiling a registry of unvaccinated individuals. Hence, preparation for a vaccination campaign is underway to rectify this, said Shiyam.

Adding that the vaccines will be rolled out to both Maldivians and expatriates, Shiyam stated that translated pamphlets on both the coronavirus and measles will be distributed amongst migrant workers.

Moreover, he revealed the required amount of vaccine dosages for the national vaccination campaign will arrive in the country within ten days.

As such, the government of India donated 30,000 vaccination doses for Measles and Rubella to the Maldives on Thursday.

During a special ceremony to hand over the vaccination doses, the Minister of Health, Abdulla Ameen presented a Certificate of Acknowledgement to the government of India, which was accepted by Ambassador of India to the Maldives, Sunjay Sudhir.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Ameen expressed gratitude and appreciation for the swift response, going on to add that seeking and acquiring vaccinations is a significant and expensive task, as such, the government highly appreciates the Indian government’s generous donation as free aid.

The minister also added that they are proceeding work to combat the measles outbreak with recommendations from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Further, Ameen urged those who have not completed the required two dosages, to seek vaccination as soon as possible.

While India has donated 30,000 vaccination doses, the health ministry is working in collaboration with UNICEF and WHO to bring additional 200،000 vaccination doses to the country.