COVAX accepts Maldives' proposal for free Covid-19 vaccine

COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) has accepted Maldives’ proposal for the free vaccine dosages to be distributed to each nation.

Health Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC) spokesperson Dr. Nazla Rafeeq revealed this at a press conference held on Thursday afternoon.

COVAX is a global initiative led by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and international vaccine alliance organization Gavi, that aims to bring governments and vaccine manufacturers together to ensure all countries have access to the Covid-19 vaccine once they become available.

While each nation is to receive enough to vaccinate 20 percent of the population, Maldives is among the countries eligible to access COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX.

The HEOC spokesperson said that this was confirmed via a letter received earlier on Thursday.

Further noting that the country is preparing for the vaccination process, Nazla said that this is being done under an international framework. This includes the formation of a steering committee, development of a cold storage as well as other administrative work.

The doctor said that their aim is to complete all the necessary work by the time the country gains access to the vaccine.

She revealed the order of the Covid-19 vaccine priority list with frontline workers coming first and high-risk individuals in second. This is to be followed by basic service providers and international travelers.

Earlier, officials revealed that three percent of the doses allocated for Maldives will be reserved for frontline workers while the remaining 17 percent are for the elderly and high-risk groups.

Noting that there are possible side effects of the vaccine, Dr. Nazla said that Maldives is only interested in the ones approved by the World Health Organization.