Mass vaccination will speed up pandemic recovery: HEOC

The Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) has revealed that mass vaccination would result in the safe achievement of heard immunity for Covid-19 and make it easier for the country to return to a normal state.

On Wednesday, Indian government supplied Maldives with 100,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine as produced by the Serum of Institute of India under a grant program between the two nations.

A Q&A sheet published by the Health protection Agency (HPA) to accommodate doubts from the public in relation to the vaccine states that while it was not compulsory for citizens to receive vaccine shots, vaccinating would reduce transmission of Covid-19 in Maldivian communities. The HEOC further explained that healthcare workers, high-risk elderly persons and those suffering from chronic illnesses and conditions were at the top of the priority list for vaccinations.

HEOC added that while all the vaccines developed against Covid-19 have gone through clinical trials where doses were administered to volunteers of different age groups, it has been decided that the vaccine would not be given to those under 16 years of age as no trials were conducted for vaccines for that age group.

Additionally, HEOC clarified that the number of shots required to complete a full dose of the Covid-19 vaccine depended on what type of vaccine was being used, and that the Covishield, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines required two shots to be administered to complete a full dose of the vaccine. Further, HPA has announced that some side-effects are to be expected following administration of the Covishield vaccine shots, and that those side-effects were proof that a person's body was reacting proactively to build immunity against components present in the vaccine.

As it is unclear how long immunity from Covid-19 lasts after a person has recovered, vaccines will also be administered to those who have previously contracted and recovered from Covid-19. An anti-body test is not required before a person receives the vaccine. HEOC has said that those who have contracted the infection and recovered without further symptoms will not be required to get vaccinated against the virus.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih announced on Wednesday that the government's pandemic response plan is to provide free Covid-19 vaccines to all those living in the Maldives within the coming months.