2,034 people received their first doses of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccines across the Maldives on Wednesday.

According to the latest Covid-19 vaccination updates publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), a total of 2,034 persons were administered their first doses of the Covid-19 vaccination across the Maldives from 6pm Tuesday to 6pm Wednesday.

With this, a total of 237,716 people have received their first doses of Covid-19 vaccines in Maldives, including 130,991 persons vaccinated from the Greater Male' area and 106,725 total vaccinations from atolls.

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.

On March 25, 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. Maldives received the second batch of the donation on Tuesday.

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.