![]() ![]() From 15th September 2021, it will also involve those working in any touristic activities including night-clubs, restaurants, the police force, firefighters, hairdressers and beauty salons, gyms and other sports related centres, and dormitories. Vaccination is compulsory for people working in several sectors such as healthcare, education, daycares, port, airport, retirement homes, and prisons ( 4). Additional doctors were recruited on a temporary basis to assist in vaccination campaigns. Authorities plan to include children between the ages of 12 to 17 for vaccine eligibility once the country has access to the Pfizer vaccine.Īs the island was approved for enough vaccines, the country prioritized inoculating as many Mauritians as possible to reach herd immunity. The island received various vaccines such as Covishield and Covaxin from India, Sinopharm vaccine from China, Hayat-Vax (Sinopharm) from UAE, Sputnik V from Russia, and Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) Vaccine across the year. Frontliners, the elderly, and immunosuppressed/compromised were prioritized first, followed by the general public. Mauritius started its vaccination campaign on 26th January 2021. The authorities called for the cooperation of the general public to adhere to the strict sanitary protocols during these periods and for the solidarity and togetherness to help fight this second wave ( 3). As Mauritius transitioned to resume its post-lockdown activities, several restrictions were gradually eased despite some active cases and daily new infections. The country also adopted a national mask mandate, performed mass testing, strict contact tracing and proper social distancing protocols during both lockdowns. During the lockdown issued in 2020, the country completely suppressed the spread of the infection, while the second lockdown of 2021 proved to be helpful but slightly less effective. While several similar steps were adopted during the first and second waves, the results were not identical. ![]() ![]() With the resurgence of cases, a second lockdown was started on 10th March 2021, which lasted till the end of April 2021. However, as with many countries, Mauritius was not completely safe against a second wave of infection. Mauritius maintained a Covid-free status up to November 2020 with no “locally transmitted cases” and resumed near-normal life, recording only imported cases after 26th November 2020 ( 1, 2). Within 39 days, the country controlled the pandemic and the lockdown ended on the 30th May 2020 at midnight. Strict laws to combat misinformation and “fake news” were adopted. The country acted fast and severe measures were taken to ensure proper lockdown protocols. As the virus continued to spread, at first a “sanitary” lockdown and later a complete lockdown were started on 20th March and 24th March 2020 respectively. On 18th March 2020, the island reported its first three cases, which led the Prime Minister to close its borders on 19th March 2020. The small island of Mauritius, with a population of 1.26 million inhabitants, situated in the Indian Ocean, to the east of Africa, was also not spared. The pandemic of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has involved more than 218 million people worldwide. ![]()
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