Masha Midhath   04 February 2021 - 04:26 AM
Over 1500 people from the Maldives have received the first jab of the Covishield vaccine from the nationwide inoculation drive.

According to the Health Protection Agency (HPA), 1309 people have in total joined in the inoculation drive from the greater Male’ region. While in total, 1,578 people had received their first jab of the Covid-19 vaccine from the nationwide inoculation drive, and 742 people had received their first jab of the Covid-19 vaccine today.

The statistics have shown that 269 have in total joined in the inoculation drive from outside the greater Male’ region. Out of this, 99 people received their first jab of the Covid-19 vaccine today.

The vaccine rollout program’s initial phase kicked off in Malé, Addu, and Kulhudhuffushi cities with 06 vaccine centers in the greater Male' region and 03 vaccine centers outside the greater Male’ region. The nationwide vaccine campaign will target at-risk individuals over 50 years of age or who have underlying medical issues; health and social workers; and essential frontline staff. Vaccines will not be administered to pregnant women or children under 18 at this time.

The 100,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India arrived in the Maldives on January 20. Covishield is based on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, co-developed by the Oxford University and AstraZeneca to combat Covid-19.

The Covishield vaccine was authorized for restricted emergency use in the Maldives by the Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA) on January 28.