Over 40 Deaths in 20 Days, 60% Unvaccinated. Authorities Plead with the Eligible Public to Get Vaccinated.

The psychological effect of getting used to bad news has overtaken the fear in our hearts that first set in with on the onset of the pandemic, when the first Covid19 death was recorded in the Maldives on April 30, 2020. Today, the 114th Covid19 death has been reported in the country. 

The devastating fourth wave of the virus surge has claimed more than 40 deaths in less than the past 20 days. If this is not alarming enough to warn you of the seriousness of the pandemic, I don’t know what is. Every other day, a new record is broken with the number of deaths topping that of the previous day. Same goes with the number of positive cases that show almost no signs of lowering.  

In a press conference held by the HEOC, Dr. Nazla Musthafa reported that over 60% of the people who passed away in this month were not vaccinated. Discerning statistics reveal that 70% of eligible people have not received their second jab of Sinopharm. If it has been three weeks since receiving the first dose of Sinopharm, please get your second dose as soon as possible. 

Authorities and the concerned are pleading the eligible community in the Maldives to get vaccinated, in light of the recent events. It is notable that over 100,000 people are awaiting an announcement date of the restarting of administering the Covishield vaccine. However, the first and second doses of the Sinopharm vaccines are being administered at 3 designated vaccination centers in the Greater Male’ Region. 

Today marked the start of vaccination of pregnant women with the Pfizer vaccine. HPA has also categorized people above 60 years of age, bedridden people, and differently-abled people as special categories open for vaccination. To date, over 304,000 people have received the first vaccination dose, with half of them having completed vaccination with the second dose.  

Even though more elderly people were affected to a higher degree by the virus, recent events have proven that youth and the vulnerable – pregnant women, elderly, children – are at equivalent levels of danger when infected. More than 35% of those admitted at Covid facilities in the country are under 40 years of age, hundreds of them being children under 10 years old.