Spokesperson for the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) Dr. Nazla Rafeeq has released a special message advocating for vaccines at a time when radical anti-vaxx rhetoric has become more popular in the Maldives within politics and online spaces.

Dr. Nazla Rafeeq said that illnesses such as polio and neonatal tetanus had been eradicated from Maldivian communities as a result of vaccines.

She added that vaccination was a critical tool to immunize and protect the population against communicable illnesses, and that successful immunization programs conducted in the past had drastically reduced the prevalence of illnesses such as whooping cough, diphtheria and measles.

Dr. Nazla went on to recall how the importance of vaccines were proven during the measles outbreak in early 2020, and highlighted the importance of getting vaccines at the optimal age range and time to confirm immunization against debilitating communicable illnesses.

Dr. Nazla's message advocating for vaccines come at a time when some Maldivians who subscribe to radical and delusory anti-vaxx ideologies have been calling to boycott Covid-19 vaccines. While the Maldivian anti-vaxx community continues to grow and disseminate propaganda in online spaces, some have taken to the streets to protest against the government's plan to administer Covid-19 vaccines to all those living in the Maldives, free of cost.