Health Protection Agency (HPA) allows denying services to people that have not vaccinated against COVID-19.
In an announcement made on Saturday, the agency instructed all eligible residents of Maldives to get inoculated. To encourage everyone to gets their vaccine soon, HPA has said that businesses and other service providers can make a decision on whether or not to serve people that have not gotten any dose of the vaccine before September 1.
They have not specified how the service provided can be differentiated or denied. The agency stated service providers can demand certain conditions to be met prior to providing their service.
This is allowed for businesses in the food and beverages industry such as cafe's, restaurants, and hotels in addition to service providers such as gyms, saloons and cinemas, and public transportation and domestic airlines as well. Furthermore, employees can also enforce certain conditions be met prior to letting their employees return to work places.
HPA said they have informed the aforementioned sectors these conditions will only start being applicable from September 1 onwards.
The government of Maldives aims to have 90 percent of its eligible population inoculated by the end of August. So far 329,403 people have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine, while 282,653 people have been fully vaccinated.
Previously, Maldives only allowed people above 18 to get inoculated. However, with a shipment of Pfizer vaccines to arrive Maldives soon, the government will start vaccinating children above the age of 12 soon as well.
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