Maldives to vaccinate 10,000 tourism workers against COVID-19

Minister of Tourism of the Maldives Abdulla Mausoom has said the country will vaccinate 10,000 tourism workers against COVID-19, local media reported on Tuesday.

"Workers who provide their services directly to guests at closer to 3-foot distance will be our top priority," Mausoom was quoted as saying by the Sun Online.

Minister Mausoom said the decision to vaccinate tourism workers was made by President Ibrahim Solih and the vaccination was crucial for the survival of the tourism sector.

Mausoom said that the country's borders will not be closed for tourism despite a recent rise in cases, noting that only 0.08 percent of tourists tested positive for COVID-19 in January.

The Maldives received 100,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine from India on Jan. 20 and began its vaccination program on Feb. 1.

The island country expects to receive 700,000 more doses of Covishield in March and vaccines from the World Health Organization (WHO) in February.