Over 69,000 residents have received their second Covid-19 vaccination doses across the Maldives by Thursday.
According to the latest Covid-19 vaccination updates publicized by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), total of 8,948 persons were vaccinated against the Covid-19 pandemic, nationwide by Thursday.
Of this, 1,732 persons received their first Covid-19 vaccination doses, and a further 7,216 individuals were administered their second doses.
429 of the 1,732 first doses administered by Thursday's end were in the Greater Malé Region and 1,303 were across outlying atolls.
3,120 atoll residents received their second shots across 240 vaccination centers in outlying atolls as an additional 4,096 Malé residents were administered their second doses from the capital city.
288,903 residents have received first doses of vaccines nationwide, along with a total of 69,802 persons who have received their second Covid-19 vaccination shots.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih launched the national Covid-19 vaccination drive 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. HPA has since begun administering the second Covid-19 vaccination doses on April 3.
The second shots for the Sinopharm vaccinations will be given after three to four weeks following the first dose. Two shots of the same vaccine type are required to build immunity against Covid-19.
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.
Last week, public health authorities revealed guidelines for travelling within residential islands without the need for quarantine, after receiving second Covid-19 vaccination doses. HPA revealed that beginning 20 April 2021, travel to islands with 60 percent total vaccinations will be possible without quarantine, for fully vaccinated citizens, after two weeks have passed from their second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Those traveling from islands with more than 5 percent transmission of Covid-19 will be require a negative PCR test result, in addition to those who are ineligible to receive vaccines.
In addition to this, fully vaccinated international visitors to the Maldives will be able to travel without PCR testing if two weeks have passed since they received second doses of Covid-19 vaccines. Under the revised regulations, HPA will be maintaining a list of islands that have reached 60 percent vaccinations for resident populations, along with a list of islands with less than and greater than 5 percent recorded in Covid-19 transmissions.
