President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Wednesday announced the arrival of the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines in the Maldives from India.
100,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine arrived in the Maldives on Wednesday afternoon. This amount can provide full vaccine doses to 50,000 people.
Covishield is based on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, co-developed by the Oxford University and AstraZeneca to combat COVID-19. President Solih thanked the Indian people, its Government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for gifting the vaccine doses to the Maldives.
President Solih assured that the government would secure enough doses of COVID-19 vaccines to cater to the entire population of the Maldives, including residents and foreigners. He affirmed that the government would provide vaccination at no cost. The rollout of the vaccines would commence in the coming months.
The President highlighted the government’s continuous efforts over the past 10-months in response to the pandemic. Concluding his remarks, the President encouraged the public to continue adhering to the guidelines of health professionals.
