Maldives receives 5,000 doses of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine

Well-wishers have donated 5,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine developed by China against COVID-19 to the Maldives, Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) has announced. 

HEOC spokesperson Dr. Nazla Rafeeq said that the 5,000 vaccines were currently stored and would be permitted by the Food and Drug Authority of the Maldives after assessments. 

Sinopharm is widely used in China and was developed by two companies from the nation. Sinovac and Sinopharm are the two vaccines predominantly used in China. The two vaccines have about 78 percent efficacy against COVID-19.

The Maldives commenced vaccinations yesterday. Currently, the Covishield vaccine developed by Astrazeneca-Oxford University is used in the Maldives. The vaccine is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.

The first batch was 100,000 doses gifted by India to the Maldives. A further 700,000 doses of the vaccine are being procured by the Maldivian government. More vaccines are to be received through the COVAX facility, according to the Health Minister who recently announced that the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine would also be procured by the Maldives.