President Solih urges all citizens to get booster shot

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Saturday urged all the citizens to get the booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. 

In his tweet, the President highlighted that boosting vaccine immunity was the best defence against the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. He added that the country's booster vaccine program was now open to the public, and urged all to go get the booster shot. 

Health Protection Agency (HPA) opened the administration of booster dose for all individuals over the age of 18. The agency noted that everyone who received the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at least six months ago is eligible now for the booster shot. 

Additionally, HPA stated that Pfizer will be administered as the booster dose, and those residing in the Greater Male’ Area can make their appointments for the jab through book.hpa.gov.mv.

Requirements when going to receive the booster dose:

• Bringing ID Card, or an official document for identification purposes
• Should not be an individual showing symptoms of the disease or an individual undergoing quarantine
• Wearing loose clothing, with easy access to shoulders
• Having eaten well prior
• Taking an own water bottle
• Going alone

After a long period of recording low numbers, Maldives has been seeing a surge of cases since the new year, with the positivity rate in the greater Male’ area currently at 11 percent. On Friday alone, 967 cases were recorded, making it the highest number of cases recorded in 24 hours this year.