New Hope: Maldives Soars In Joy With Arrival Of First Shipment of COVID-19 Vaccine From India

Yesterday, was a day filled with hope for the Maldivian nation. At approximately 1440 hours, an Air India flight carrying the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines extended by the Indian government touched down at the Velana International Airport.

A ceremony was held at the airport to mark the delivery of the shipment in which it was handed over by the Indian High Commissioner to Maldives, Mr. Sunjay Sudhir, and received on behalf of the Government of Maldives by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Abdulla Shahid and Minister of Health, Mr. Ahmed Naseem.

The shipment received contains 100k doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca's COVISHIELD vaccine produced by Serum Institute of India, an intra-muscular injection which will be sufficient to inoculate 50k people; two-doses each which must be administered in between a gap of 4 to 12 weeks. The COVISHIELD vaccine shows an efficiency between 90% to 62%. This is intended to cover health personals and senior citizens. However, the date for the vaccination drive have not been set yet.
Maldives received the vaccine within 96 hours of its country-wide rollout in India, and is the first country to receive so, symbolizing the importance India places on its bilateral relations with Maldives.

Prior to the arrival of the flight, the President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih also addressed the nation on the occasion. He assured the citizens that the government is working to secure enough doses of COVID-19 vaccines to accommodate the entire population of Maldives, including residents and foreigners. He further promises that the government would provide vaccination at no cost. In this regard, the government has signed a direct agreement with AstraZeneca to purchase 700,000 vaccine doses while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is overseeing efforts to acquire vaccines from other countries.