A total of 1,703 Covid-19 vaccinations were conducted in the Maldives on Wednesday from atolls outside the capital, as the national vaccination total reaches 138,827.
The most recent vaccination update by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) revealed that a total of 1,703 people were vaccinated across the country on Friday.
All of these vaccinations were conducted across 169 vaccination centers established outside the nation's capital, where no vaccines were administered on Friday.
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 last 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, foreign observers hailing the equitable distribution of vaccines across the island nation as an example for other world countries.
A total of 138,827 people have been vaccinated in the Maldives by sundown on 5 March, including 84,891 vaccinated in the Greater Male' area, and 53,936 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 140,000 vaccinations conducted by Friday, 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.
