A total of 5,759 Covid-19 vaccinations were conducted in the Maldives on Wednesday as the national vaccination total reaches 129,424.

The most recent vaccination update by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) revealed that a total of 5,759 people were vaccinated across the country on Tuesday. This includes 3,792 people vaccinated across 169 vaccination centers in atolls, and 1,967 vaccinations conducted from eight centers and two mobile vaccination teams in the Greater Male' area.

Vaccinations are now open for all those above the age of 18 years of age living in Male', in addition to high-risk groups over the age of 18, and caretakers of elderly or chronically ill bedridden patients.

The Maldives reached a milestone in the island nation's pandemic story on Saturday, when 100,000 people across the country were confirmed to have received their first dose of the Covishield vaccine. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had initiated the national Covid-19 vaccination programme on 1 February.

The government has received international praise for the Maldives' rapid and organized Covid-19 vaccination efforts, with the United Nation's Resident Coordinator in Maldives Ms. Catherine Haswell hailing the equitable distribution of vaccines across the island nation as an example for other world countries.

A total of 129,424 people have been vaccinated in the Maldives by sundown on 3 March, including 81,323 vaccinated in the Greater Male' area, and 48,101 people vaccinated from atolls outside the capital.

Spokesperson for the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) Dr. Nazla Rafeeq has stressed the importance of vaccinating in order to build herd-immunity against Covid-19 within Maldivian communities, adding that this would be the only way Covid-19 health and safety restrictions could be eased across the country.

While the Maldives seen almost 130,000 vaccinations conducted by Wednesday, only the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine has been cleared for emergency use in the country. Presently, the island nation has, through various agreements and foreign commitments, secured enough doses of Covid-19 vaccines to immunize all those living in the Maldives against Covid-19, free of cost as per the government's Covid-response plan.