The national total of those vaccinated against Covid-19 has now crossed the 70,000-mark, with an additional 5,283 persons administered their first dose of the Covishield vaccine on Saturday.

As per the most recent vaccination update by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), 5,283 people were administered their first dose of the Covishield vaccine on Saturday. With this, the total number of those vaccinated against Covid-19 in the Maldives now stands at 70,009. Of the 5,283 persons inoculated on Saturday, 3,755 received their doses from 10 vaccination centers in the Male' area, and 1,528 people were vaccinated across 69 vaccination centers set up in different atolls.

Thus far, a total of 53,669 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 in the Male' region, and an additional 16,340 persons have been administered vaccine doses across atolls since the beginning of the national Covid-19 vaccination programme on 1 February.

Friday saw a 93-year-old local man, who was bedridden for 10 years with multiple underlying health conditions, pass away after having been administered the Covishield vaccine on 17 February. On Saturday, this man's 81-year-old wife also passed away after having been administered the Covishield vaccine. The elderly couple hailed from the island of GDh. Gahdhoo, and were grandparents to the Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer. Per protocol, authorities have now initiated an investigation into their deaths, and have noted that while their deaths have not yet been directly linked to the Covishield vaccine, the couple were also suffering from serious medical conditions due to their advanced age. HPA have announced the results of these investigations will be made public once they are complete.

On Saturday, the Maldives received an additional 100,000 doses of the Oxfgord-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine as manufactured by India's Serum Institute. The receival of these vaccines were confirmed in a symbolic handover ceremony conducted on Saturday, by the Minister of External Affairs of India, Dr. S. Jaishankar, and the Maldivian Minister of Health, Ahmed Naseem at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid spoke at the event, noting that the granting of an additional 100,000 vaccine doses to Maldives by India would help the island nation maintain high rates of vaccinations in the coming months.

A call for vaccination is now open in the Male' area for all those above the age of 35, in addition to those between 18 and 55 who are at a high risk of complications from Covid-19. Authorities have noted a decline in turnout for vaccination centers, and have encouraged the public to support efforts to immunize the population against Covid-19 to reduce the nation's caseload and prevent further fatalities.