Health Protection Agency HPA says more than 1000 individuals have received the COVID-19 third dose or the booster dose.
HPA had begun administering the booster dose earlier this month and had said that it would be administering a dose of the Pfizer vaccine as the 3rd COVID dose.
In its latest update, HPA said 1,577 people have now received the booster dose.
HPA had set a certain category of individuals that would be eligible for the third dose of the COVID vaccine and only once it had been six months after the individual received the 2nd dose of the vaccine.
HPA said that for now only frontline health care professionals, those above 65 years and immunocompromised individuals are eligible for the booster dose.
Immunocompromised individuals include;
- Organ transplant patient
- Patients who use immunosuppression drugs
- Longterm steroid users
- Patients who do dialysis regularly
- Patients who are treating cancer or have been in remission for a year
- Patients on oxygen therapy
- Patients on treatment for pulmonary diseases
- Patients on treatment for liver diseases
- Patients receiving treatment for organ damage due to diabetes
- Bedridden patients
- Patients with heart conditions
Meanwhile, HPA had said that a total of 394,099 people in the Maldives have now received the first dose of the COVID vaccine. HPA added that out of that 354,759 people have now received the 2nd dose of the vaccine and are fully vaccinated against the pandemic.
