Malé, Maldives – The Higher Education Ministry has requested for students studying abroad, who are currently in Maldives and have enough time to complete the required two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine before departing to commence their studies, to share their information with the Ministry.
The Higher Education Ministry said that many students who are studying abroad through scholarships of the ministry, higher education loans or at their own expenses are requesting to be administered both doses of the vaccine before departing for their studies.
The Ministry has now opened registration for students who are available for the required time, minimum four weeks after first dose, to be administered both doses to register at the Ministry through this google form.
Vaccination is currently ongoing in various parts of the country, which includes six vaccination centers in Malé, and four within the atolls. The vaccine currently being administered in Maldives is the Covishield vaccine, licensed by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, in collaboration with Oxford University, mass produced by the Serum Institute of India.
Maldives received 100,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine from India, which is currently in use, while additional 700,000 doses of Astrazeneca vaccine to be received within the March. The country is also expecting to receive the vaccine shipment from World Health Organization (WHO), which would be sufficient to vaccinate at least 20 percent of the population of the country, with in the upcoming two weeks.
While China has also decided to donate 100,000 vaccines to the country, Maldives already received 10,000 doses of the Chinese made Sinopharm vaccine via a donor Health Protection Agency has not yet named.
