The Maldives Covid-19 vaccination total has surpassed the 218,000-mark on Friday, with a pause in vaccinations from Male' and just 449 vaccinations conducted across atolls.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih initiated the national Covid-19 vaccination programme "Covid-19 Dhifaau" on 1 February 2021.

Health professionals vaccinated a total of 449 people across the Maldives against Covid-19 on Friday, pushing the nations vaccination total up to 218,046.

The latest vaccination update by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) confirms that 449 vaccinations were conducted across the Maldives on Friday. All of these vaccinations were conducted across 169 vaccination centers in atolls, as no vaccinations were performed in the Greater Male' area on Friday.

With this, the island nation's vaccination total is now 218,046, which includes 121,630 vaccinations performed in the capital of Male', and a total of 96,416 vaccines administered from outlying atolls.

While health authorities have announced they will discontinue administering the first doses of the Covishield vaccine on 15 March, the national Covid-19 vaccination drive is slowing down after one and a half months of dedicated immunization efforts across the country. Special groups such as the elderly, chronically ill and high-risk persons, and those in quarantine or isolation due to exposure to Coivd-19 will still receive their first doses of Covid-19 vaccines, based on eligibility, beginning Saturday.

As of now, the Maldivian government is preparing to administer second doses of Covid-19 vaccines to citizens after the recommended wait-period, and is working to purchase an additional 300,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine from India's Serum Institute. This will be in addition to the 700,000 vaccine doses acquired by the government through an as-yet undisclosed agreement signed previously, between the Ministry of Health and AstraZeneca Singapore Private Limited.

Spokesperson for the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) Dr. Nazla Rafeeq has, on multiple occasions, 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 restrictions to control the infection could be eased across the country.