A total of 6,941 vaccinations were conducted in the Maldives on Saturday as the national vaccination total reaches 145,768.

The latest vaccination update by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) confirms that a total of 6,941 people were vaccinated against Covid-19 across Maldives on Saturday. This includes 4,787 vaccinations conducted across atolls, in addition to 2,154 vaccines administered from the Greater Male' area.

With this, a total of 145,768 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 thus far in the Maldives. 87,045 vaccinations were conducted in the Male' area since the start of the nationwide vaccination programme, with a total of 58,723 vaccinations conducted across atolls.

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.

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.