Health Protection Agency (HPA) has begun to administer the second dose of the Covishield vaccine. The administration of the second dose of the Covishield vaccine resumed after a two-month hiatus.
HPA stated the second dose will only be administered through appointments and that it will prioritise those who had received the first dose early. HPA will call individuals who received the first dose in February in order to make appointments to administer their second dose this month.
The health authority urged the public to arrive at their appointments on time with their national identity card or a document confirming their identity. Individuals who arrive at their appointments should not have signs of sickness and should not be undergoing quarantine.
Maldives began its COVID-19 vaccination programme on February 1 with the first 100,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine donated by the Government of India. A large part of the Maldivian population has now received the first dose of the Covishield vaccine. However, Health Protection Agency (HPA) suspended the rollout of Covishield in May due to decreasing stocks of the vaccine in the Maldives.
HPA is currently administering the first and the second dose of the Sinopharm vaccine to Individuals aged between 18 and 60 in the Greater Male' Region. Statistics from HPA show around 317,000 individuals have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccines and around 192,000 have received the second dose.