Covid vaccine for children above 5 years

While COVID-19 was ultimately discovered in 2019, many refer to the COVID-19 period as 2020 because that is when the full effects hit and the COVID was declared a global pandemic. A flu-like disease that many thought would be an epidemic in China soon spread to almost every part of the globe, forcing countries to close their borders as precautionary steps. With high death tolls and fear among everyone due to the even higher infection rates, the lockdown period was truly surreal for millions who have never been through a pandemic before.

Almost immediately big pharma companies started working on developing a vaccine to help humans boost their immunity towards the infection that was taking so many lives on a daily basis. And almost a year into the pandemic, the first tested and approved vaccine was rolled out and shots were administered to adults who were 18 and above as the vaccine was still fairly new and older people with lower immunity were prioritised following healthcare workers and front liners.

And with that, the vaccine was rolled out to countries all around the globe and slowly but surely the infection rates started dropping. Almost three years later, most people are vaccinated with at least 2 or the full 3 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and the infection has become a fever dream for many.

But it appears that the vaccination process is still not over for us as the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has announced that the Pfizer vaccine for children above 5 years is now available in the Maldives with the vaccination process started on 11th February 2023.

The vaccination process was planned out in phases from the very start with front liners and the elderly as well as those with compromised immune systems being on the priority list for the first phase of vaccination. And now, with kids over 5 years receiving their dose of vaccine, it feels like though we might have forgotten the pandemic - we are taking another step towards ensuring immunity even for children.

For parents looking to vaccinate their children over the age of 5 with the last dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the vaccine is now available in three different locations of Male’ City:

●      Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) from 09:00 - 12:00 every Tuesday.

●      Hulhumale’ hospital from 1300-1400 every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.

●      Dhamanaveshi from 1300-1500 every day except for public holidays.