Education Ministry says nearly 5000 students between the ages of 12 and 17 have now received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the Maldives.

The government had kicked off its COVID vaccination program for the students earlier this week and had said that all the students between the ages of 12 and 17 years are eligible to receive the vaccine.

The Education Ministry had said that the program had started in schools across the country and that around 35,000 students are eligible to receive the vaccine.

In an update today, the Ministry said 4,973 students from Male' and the Atolls have now received the first dose of the vaccine in the country.

Authorities in the Maldives are administering the US-manufactured Pfizer vaccine in its student vaccination program.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had recently announced that the state has successfully acquired enough doses of the Pfizer vaccine to immunize all children in the Maldives between the ages of 12 and 17 years.

Meanwhile, Health Protection Agency HPA said yesterday that more than 296,400 people in the Maldives have now completed their COVID vaccinations.

HPA said that a total of 354,192 people in the country have now received the 1st dose of the COVID vaccine and that out of that 296,498 people have now received the second shot of the COVID vaccine.