705 Covid-19 vaccine doses were administered on Thursday.

According to the Health Protection Agency (HPA), 404 of the 705 doses administered on Thursday were first jabs while the remaining 301 were second shots.

With this, a total of 385,383 residents across the country have received a first jab while 303,430 people have completed both doses. Hence, 81,953 people have received a first shot and are awaiting the second one.

While the government launched the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive on February 1, more residents across the Maldives had begun attending vaccination centers for their first jabs after authorities announced the “final stages” of the drive back in July.

Although the government earlier targeted to vaccinate 95 percent of those eligible through the free vaccination drive, by the end of August, authorities have revealed that they are not far from reaching the goal, with 85 percent of the eligible population aged 18 and above having received first doses and 84 percent of the eligible population above 12 years having received the first jab as well.

Authorities only launched a vaccination drive for children aged 12 to 17 last month, following the approval of Pfizer vaccine for the age group. This campaign is being conducted together with the education ministry, with awareness programmes held for parents as their consent is required for children's vaccination.

Further, while HPA announced restrictions for unvaccinated persons from September 1 earlier, on Wednesday, it was revealed that the implementation of the restrictions will be delayed as the government works on launching an adequate application through which unvaccinated persons may be tracked and monitored.

Restrictions that unvaccinated persons will be facing include a ban on domestic air travel, public transport as well as receiving services at restaurants and guesthouses Further, civil servants who have not been vaccinated yet will also be required to present negative PCR test results every 14 days.