Thursday saw health professionals set the second-highest record yet for daily vaccinations, with a total of 7,446 persons administered doses of the Covishield vaccine in the Maldives between 6pm Wednesday and 6pm Thursday.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA)'s latest vaccination update confirms that a total of 7,446 successful vaccinations were conducted on Thursday. This includes 4,825 persons inoculated in nine vaccination centers in the Male' area, in addition to 2,621 persons vaccinated against Covid-19 from 169 vaccination centers established in atolls.

Including Thursday's 7,446 successful vaccinations, 98,311 persons have been administered their first doses of the Covishield vaccine. 69,725 people have thus far been inoculated against Covid-19 in the Male' area since the beginning of February, and the vaccination total for atolls now sits at 28,586.

On Wednesday, health authorities initiated vaccination efforts for undocumented migrant workers living in the nation's capital, in a move that has been hailed by the international community and locals alike on social media platforms. Migrant workers make up a significant percentage of the Maldives' population, and authorities have noted that herd immunity cannot be achieved without equitable access to vaccines for all those living in the Maldives.

Prior to Thursday's second-highest daily vaccination record, authorities had been expressing concerns that turn-out had been decreasing at vaccination centers, with more persons presumably waiting until the weekend to get vaccinated to accommodate for any side-effects they may experience after being administered the dose. This is the second Thursday in a row that total vaccinations have topped 7,000 across the Maldives.

Vaccinations are now open for all those over 25 years of age in the Male' area, and the national total for those vaccinated against Covid-19 is expected to top 100,000 on Friday.

On Tuesday, the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) confirmed that Maldives had received 100,000 syringes from the COVAX facility. As of now, the Maldives has secured over a million doses of the vaccine, including 700,000 doses acquired by the government through an as-yet undisclosed agreement signed between the Ministry of Health and AstraZeneca Singapore Private Limited, in addition to doses secured by the island nation through the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), which will be enough doses to vaccinate 20 percent of the nation's population.

The government is working to achieve their goal to vaccinate all those living in the Maldives against Covid-19, free of cost, in the coming months.