Vaccines Should Be WHO-Approved: MP Shareef

Only vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation should be administered in the Maldives, said MP Ibrahim Shareef (Maradhoo).

On January 26, the Maldives Food and Drug Authority have already approved the CoviShield vaccine, produced by the Serum Institute of India. The MFDA chose to approve the vaccine as CoviShield is chemically identical to the AstraZeneca vaccine, which had been approved by the British regulatory body.

The WHO, however, have not yet approved the use of AstraZeneca.

In a tweet, Shareef said that a programme of administering vaccines in the Maldives had to be put into action as soon as possible. He also said that the vaccine to be administered would have to be WHO-approved, and would also have to have been manufactured by a reliable manufacturer.

It is expected that the WHO would publish its decision on whether or not CoviShield is fit for international use sometime in February.