Male’, Maldives – Spokesperson of the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) and Senior Medical Officer at the Health Protection Agency (HPA), Dr. Nazla Rafeeq stated today that the Maldivian government has decided to not go ahead with the purchase of sputnik vaccine.
Although the government had been in negotiations to purchase Russian vaccine Sputnik, Dr. Nazla informs no payment was made to purchase the vaccines and that the Government of Maldives has decided to not go ahead with the purchase.
Our current needs will be met with the vaccines we have currently secured.
Dr. Nazla Rafeeq
According to Health Minister Ahmed Naseem, the government had decided to procure Sputnik vaccine after the government’s other vaccine purchases of 700,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine got delayed several times.
When Dr. Nazla was questioned on the status of the 700,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that has been already paid by the Maldivian government, she responded by saying that the country has received the first shipment of the vaccine and that further details will be disclosed on a later date.
On August 02, 2021, Maldives initiated a large-scale Covid-19 vaccination program in the capital Male’ city and the atolls since the country has procured enough Covid-19 vaccine doses to completely vaccinate all the residents in the country.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih earlier revealed the government’s preparation on initiating a large-scale Covid-19 vaccination program, that aims to inoculate 90 per cent of the eligible population residing in the Maldives by the end of August 2021.
The program would continue until every resident completes their vaccine.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih
At present, a total of 342,511 people have administered the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine while only 294,109 people have fully administered the Covid-19 doses.
