Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL) have announced that they will be initiating a Covid-19 vaccination programme at Velana International Airport (VIA), at a time health authorities are working to expand vaccination efforts across different atolls of the Maldives.

MACL announced that Covid-19 vaccinations would begin at VIA on 28 February from the airport's recreation center. Vaccinations will take place between 9am and 4pm Sunday through to Thursday, and from 10am to 3pm on Saturdays.

MACL has revealed that all those with the airport pass can receive vaccines from VIA's recreation center. MACL's General Manager of Corporate Communications Hassan Areef emphasized the importance of all airport employees receiving the vaccine, and said that the goal of basing such a huge vaccination programme at VIA was to ensure that the airport's operations ran as smoothly as possible, in addition to ensuring the health and safety of airport employees and travelers alike.

Hassan further announced that MACL aimed to be the first airport in the world to have had all employees vaccinated against the Covid-19 infection.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, MACL has been making many efforts to protect airport employees and travelers against Covid-19, and have won two international awards in recognition of their achievements in this respect. MACL has thus earned the Airport Council International (ACI)'s Voice of Customer Award and the Airport Accreditation Health Certificate as well. While Maldives' VIA ranks second in the region under the certification, first place was awarded to South Korea's Incheon International Airport, with VIA claiming the 12th spot in global rankings for the certificate.

On Thursday, the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) confirmed that vaccination efforts would be commenced in the islands of HA. Muraidhoo and V. Fulidhoo within the week.

Spokesperson for the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) Dr. Nazla Rafeeq revealed that vaccines had been transported to islands in all inhabited atolls of the Maldives. She added that except the islands of HA. Muraidhoo and V. Fulidhoo, vacciantion efforts had been active on all inhabited islands of the Maldives, and revealed that vaccines would be administered to the public from the two islands within this week.

Dr. Nazla added that by sundown on Thursday, a total of 28,586 persons had been vaccinated against Covid-19 in the Maldives. She also noted that vaccinations had commenced for resort workers as well, and that 3,178 employees of 27 resorts had been vaccinated across seven centers in the month of February thus far.

The National Covid-19 Vaccination Programme was initiated across the Maldives on 1 February 2021 by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. who has on multiple occasions asserted that his administration's Covid-19 response policy was to have all those living in the Maldives vaccinated against the infection, free of cost. As of now, the Maldives has secured enough vaccine doses to immunize all those living in the country against Covid-19 in the coming months through various agreements with international parties and foreign commitments.