Malé, Maldives – Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) said that there are 92,000 people in Maldives who have received the first dose of Covishield vaccine, however are unable to receive the second dose due to lack of vaccine in Maldives.
Speaking at last night’s press conference, Spokesperson of the President’s Office Mabrook Azeez said that there are 92,000 people who have received the first dose of Covishield vaccine and are eligible for the second dose. However there are only 1,200 doses of Covishield vaccine left in Maldives. The 92,000 people include 55,000 in Malé and 37,000 in other islands.
The remaining 1,200 doses of vaccine are being administered to high risk patients who absolutely require the vaccine.
The import of Covishield vaccine to Maldives was stopped as the Covid-19 situation in India deteriorated and stopped their export of vaccines to other countries. While Maldives has purchased 300,000 doses of Covishield, only 100,000 were received by the country.
Mabrook said that the government is making efforts to procure the vaccine as soon as possible even if it is AstraZeneka vaccine. Maldives has already signed an agreement for 700,000 doses of AstraZeneka vaccine of which the first shipment is expected to arrive this June.
