Pfizer Vaccine To Be Brought In: Health Minister

After rumours had spread a week ago of how 2,000 doses of the Pfzier COVID-19 vaccine had supposedly been arranged to be smuggled into the Maldives: the recently-appointed Minister of Health Ahmed "Kerafa" Naseem has announced that the Pfizer vaccine had indeed been arranged to be brought to the Maldives.

During a press conference held at the Health Emergency Operations Centre last night, spokesperson Dr Nazla Rafeeq had told Dhiyares, sister-newspaper to The Maldives Journal, that the Pfizer vaccine would not be imported into the Maldives. However, several reliable sources had confirmed that 2,000 doses of the vaccine had been brought into the Maldives at that point.

Speaking at the ceremony inaugurating the national programme to administer the CoviShield vaccine, Minister Naseem said that other vaccines had also been arranged to be brought into the country. The Pfizer-Biotech would be among them, he said.

"We will bring different vaccines to the Maldives. We will also bring in the Pfizer vaccine", he had said, speaking to the media.

Pfizer-Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine has been shown to be the most effective COVID-19 vaccine manufactured so far. However, as extremely cold temperatures are required for storing the vaccine, health experts have said that the logistical issues pertaining to storage and transportation in the Maldives would pose many difficulties.