Minister Ramesh Pathirana asserts, the Government is aiming to vaccinate 14 million people within the next couple of months.
He said this responding to a question raised by a journalist regarding Sri Lanka’s Covid-19 vaccination drive, during the Cabinet Decision media briefing held today (23) at the Department of Government Information.
The Minister clearly stated that the Government will immunize 14 million people of the population, for which the Government needs 28 million doses of the vaccine and the Government is ready to purchase that amount.
Meanwhile, Mr. Pathirana also pointed out that the 2nd round of vaccination after three months’ time is a debatable subject at the moment. In spite of the fact that WHO initially claimed that the 2nd dose should be given after 4 weeks’ time, as per the new developments, some of the Sri Lankan medical experts who are concerned about the immunization program also believe the best immunity booster would be to provide the vaccine after 3 months’ time.
The Minister reiterated the Government will ultimately take into consideration the recommendation given by the medical expertise on this subject and follow in that regard.
The Minister of Mass Media, Keheliya Rambukwella also pinpointed that, according to the latest reports of the medical fraternity, 2nd round of inoculation is more effective after 12 weeks’ time.
In relation to the 2nd dose, Minister Ramesh Pathirana said, given the backdrop of the unavailability of the registration of Chinese vaccine or the Russian vaccine at the moment, and as the Chinese vaccine has not yet been approved by the WHO and still under review, possibly Sri Lanka has to go with the AstraZeneca vaccine for the inoculation of the said 14 million people.
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