Male’, Maldives — Progressive Congress Coalition has said that the vaccine brought to Maldives, Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield vaccine from India is not approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Maldives received its first Covid-19 vaccine shipment yesterday, with the arrival of 100,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine gifted by India.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) of Maldives announced that the vaccine will only be administered to the residents of the country after getting approved by the Food and Drug Authority of the Maldives, following thorough investigations into the safety of the jab.
The Opposition party said in a statement that as the health and fitness of the Maldivians is one of the biggest priority of the Progressive Coalition, the vaccine that should be brought to Maldives must be approved by WHO and should be of a good quality even if it results in a lot of expenses.
The opposition emphasized that a vaccine is given to protect one against a disease, and vaccinating should start after investigating details of the virus and the process conducted based on the information and advices given by the health experts. They also stated that the the authorities must be aware of the side effects of the vaccine and what can be done to manage these side effects.
This coalition has received information that the vaccine brought to Maldives is not yet approved by WHO. It is currently in the process of investigation and it is not even a vaccine approved by Vaccine Approval Committee and the Food and Drug Authority of the Maldives.
Opposition Coalition
While it has been over a year of the citizens having to live in a pandemic, it is concerning that the country is willing to administer a vaccine that is not approved by WHO while the Maldivian citizens were waiting for a proper vaccine that is approved by WHO, said the Coalition.
The Coalition called on the government against forcing any individuals to administer the vaccine that is not approved by WHO and to not include Maldivians in any testing phase of the vaccine.
