Malé, Maldives – Speaking to local news “Adhadhu” the Foreign Minister and UNGA President-elect Abdulla Shahid says that China has pledged additional 400,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine to the Maldives.
Minister Shahid states that the information was conveyed in the discussion that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on July 16 had with the Chinese President Xi Jinping via phone.
Following the call, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih tweeted saying that he looks forward to reinvigorating Maldives-Sino relations following his phone call with President Xi. President Solih in his call thanked the Chinese President for their support to the Maldivian development and also discussed ways to further enhance cooperation between the two countries.
The President did not report any specific information regarding the discussions and Minister Shahid has not revealed the details of the vaccines or the expected arrival date to the country.
China previously donated 200,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine to the Maldives. The full donation arrived in the Maldives through the Maldives’ national carrier, Maldivian on 30 March 2021 and Maldives is since vaccinating the population with the Sinopharm vaccines along with Covishield vaccine manufactured by India.
Ex-Ambassador Zhang said on March 19 that the initial vaccine donation to the Maldives was out of goodwill to facilitate the Maldivian Government to implement their vaccination plan for the people’s health.
With the additional 400,000 vaccine doses, China will have donated the greatest amount of vaccines to the Maldives with 600,000 doses.
