273 people received their first doses of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccines across the Maldives on Friday.

According to the latest Covid-19 vaccination updates publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), a total of 273 persons were administered their first doses of the Covid-19 vaccination across the Maldives from 6pm Thursday to 6pm Friday.

As no vaccinations were conducted in the nation's capital at this time, a total of 100,419 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 from atolls thus far, with the vaccination total for the Greater Male' area at 127,277.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih initiated the Maldives' Covid-19 vaccination drive on 1 February 2021.

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. Two vaccination shots of the same type are required to effectively build immunity against the potentially fatal Covid-19 infection.

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.

On Thursday, Maldives received a consignment of 100,000 Sinopharm doses, with the first of two batches totaling 200,000 doses donated by the government of China to amp up the country’s vaccination efforts. The second batch of the donation is expected to arrive in the Maldives on March 30.

Further, the Ministry of Health has also signed an as-yet undisclosed agreement with Singapore's AstraZeneca Company to purchase 700,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccination, details of which have not been confirmed by authorities as of now.