Under the government's “COVID-19 Dhifaau” vaccination program, the first dose of Covidshield vaccine has been administered to staff from Velana International Airport, Maldivian, and Manta Air.
Both the airlines and VIA are primarily focused on administering vaccines for staff that working in the frontline and those attending critical jobs.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said that the “Covid-19 Dhifaau” campaign will see inoculation of the entire population within the next six months.
Covishield is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus known as an adenovirus from chimpanzees. It has been modified to look more like coronavirus although it can't cause illness.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India which is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer. They are producing more than 50 million doses a month.
As per clinical trial results, Covishield demonstrated 70%-90% efficacy. The government of India donated a shipment of 100,000 doses of the vaccine to the Maldives.