Maldives saw a total of 3,771 individuals vaccinated against Covid-19 under the government’s “Covid-19 Dhifaau” inoculation drive on Saturday.

According to the latest Covid-19 vaccination updates publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), 409 residents of the Greater Malé Region received their first vaccine doses from two mobile teams across nine vaccination centers in the capital, whereas 2,213 received their first shots across 237 vaccination centers in outlying atolls.

This pushes the total number of residents in the capital region vaccinated so far to 133,602. The total number of vaccination doses administered under the government’s national Covid-19 inoculation drive across outlying atolls sits at 111,296.

HPA began administering the second doses of Covishield vaccinations on Saturday, for those who received their first jabs between February 1 – 4. 1,149 residents in the capital region their second Covishield doses on Saturday.

The second shots 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.

The national vaccination total sits at 243,749 as of Saturday.

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

The Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) earlier stressed the importance of vaccinating in order to build herd-immunity against Covid-19 within Maldivian communities.

On March 15, authorities discontinued the inoculation programme across the Covid-19 epicenter Malé, however, HPA resumed administering the first doses of vaccination on March 22.

The public health authority started the second round of vaccinations with the Sinopharm vaccine produced by Beijing Bio-Institute of Biological Products of China, currently approved for use in more than 25 countries, for everyone above 18 years of age and below 60, who were unable to get their shots in the first round.

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 signed an agreement with Serum Institute of India and the Serum Institute of Life Sciences to purchase 300,000 more vaccination doses, the first consignment of which arrived in the Maldives on March 29.

On March 25, Maldives received a consignment of 100,000 Sinopharm doses, 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 March 30.

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.