Covid-19: 4,936 vaccinations performed by Saturday
40,230 residents have received two doses of Covid-19 vaccines across the country
A Covid-19 vaccination queue stretched outside the Islamic Center in Male' City
An additional 4,936 vaccinations were performed in the Maldives by the end of Saturday under the national Covid-19 vaccination drive.
According to the latest Covid-19 vaccination updates publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), 1,233 persons received their first Covid-19 vaccination doses on Saturday, along with 4,936 people who received second doses of the vaccines.
Of the 1,233 first doses administered on Saturday, 193 were in the Greater Malé Region and 1,040 were administered across atolls.
279,302 individuals have received first doses of Covid-19 vaccines nationwide, and a total of 40,230 persons have received their second Covid-19 vaccination shots thus far.
1,396 atoll residents received their second shots across 240 vaccination centers in outlying atolls and 3,540 Malé residents were administered their second doses from four mobile teams across 11 vaccination centers in the capital.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih launched the national Covid-19 vaccination programme on February 1 with the Oxford AstraZeneca Covishield vaccinations produced by India’s Serum Institute. After temporarily discontinuing the first round of vaccinations on March 15, the public health authorities resumed administering the first doses of vaccination on March 22 with the Sinopharm vaccine.
The second shots for the Sinopharm vaccinations will be given after three to four weeks following the first dose. HPA commenced 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.
Vaccination centers are to be closed across the nation on Fridays. The public health authority observed a high turnout for vaccinations on the second day of Ramadan, after which changes were brought to operational hours at vaccination centers.
5,500 doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine allocated to the Maldives through the COVAX facility is also being administered to special groups, based on eligibility and pre-registration. HPA has urged those who registered for the vaccine to turn up for their scheduled appointments as there is a limited stock of the Pfizer vaccines.
As the Pfizer vaccine vials must be used within six hours once opened, HPA has stressed that if appointments are missed, the vial has to be discarded resulting in wasted vaccine doses and in turn reducing the number of eligible people who can receive the Pfizer vaccine.
On Thursday, the public health authority publicized guidelines for travelling within residential islands without the need for quarantine, after two weeks have passed since a person received their second Covid-19 vaccination dose. Further, HPA revealed that travelers to Maldives including tourists do not require a negative PCR test result and no quarantine is required if two weeks have passed after their second vaccination dose.
