A total of 2,202 persons were administered their first doses of the Covid-19 vaccination by sundown on Tuesday.

According to the latest Covid-19 vaccination updates publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), 1,451 were inoculated across eight vaccination center and two mobile teams across the Greater Malé Region whereas 751 persons received their first Sinopharm doses in 169 vaccination centers across atolls.

The national vaccination total sits at 222,970, as of 6pm Tuesday.

With this development, the total number of vaccination doses administered under the government’s national Covid-19 inoculation drive across the capital region has reached 124,678. Further, 98,292 vaccinations have also been carried out across outlying atolls.

The incumbent administration initiated the national Covid-19 vaccination programme on February 1.

On March 15, authorities discontinued the inoculation programme across the Covid-19 epicenter Malé, however, HPA resumed administering the first doses of vaccination on Monday.

The public health authority started the second round of vaccinations with the Sinopharm vaccine produced by Beijing Bio-Institute of Biological Products of China, for everyone above 18 years of age and below 60, who were unable to get their shots in the first round.

According to HPA, they will begin administering the second doses of Covishield during May or April at the earliest. The second dosages for the Sinopharm vaccinations will be given after three to four weeks following the first dose. While two shots are required to effectively build immunity against the fatal infection, both shots must be of the same type.

After the public health authority announced the discontinuation of Covid-19 vaccination, long queues were observed outside vaccination centers across the populous capital city.

The Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) earlier stressed the importance of vaccinating in order to build herd-immunity against Covid-19 within Maldivian communities as this would be the only way Covid-19 health and safety restrictions could be eased across the country. Since then, the Director General of Public Health, Maimoona Aboobakuru has hinted that Covid-19 restrictions across the capital could be eased in time for the fasting month of Ramadan which begins two weeks into April.

Neighboring India donated 100,000 Covishield doses to the Maldives during January, followed by another consignment of 100,000 vaccination doses during External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar’s visit to the island nation in February. The government has since signed an agreement with Serum Institute of India and the Serum Institute of Life Sciences to purchase 300,000 more vaccination doses.

Further, Maldives also signed an agreement with Singapore’s AstraZeneca Company to purchase 700,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccination in December 2020. Details of the shipment’s arrival have not been confirmed by the authorities yet.