Heath Protection Agency (HPA) has opened appointments for those who to get vaccinated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Today, HPA said that those who are living in the Greater Male' Area that want to get the AstraZeneca vaccine can make appointments at https://book.hpa.gov.mv and select both the date and time of the vaccination.

Upon successfully making an appointment, an a text message is sent to the phone which has to be shown to the vaccination center staff on the day of vaccination. HPA advises that those with appointments be present at the vaccination center 15 minutes before the allocated time. If the appointment is missed, a new appointment has to be made for another day.

However, the Health Emergency Operations Center (HEOC) advised yesterday not to make a long queue prior and instead, show up on time.

Maldives Food And Drug Authority (MFDA) has given their approval to seven COVID-19 vaccines and the AstraZeneca vaccine is the lasted one to get approved. The other approved vaccines are Covishield, Sinopharm, Moderna, Pfizer, Sputnik and The Johnson's vaccine.

According to HPA statistics, 73 percent of the population has received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 59 percent has completed both doses.

Yesterday, the Spokesman of HPA, Dr. Fathimath Nazlaa Rafeeq said that 27 percent of the population are yet to receive their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Government is set to launch a major COVID-19 vaccination program on Saturday with the President, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih announcing that they hope to vaccinate 90 percent of the population by the end of August 2021.