All districts have now been given Covid-19 vaccines and no other brand will be given to any of those districts in the future. Therefore, all people in the relevant age groups should get vaccinated as soon as possible because there is no point in waiting for another brand of vaccine, Health Promotion Bureau (HPB) Director Dr. Ranjith Batuwanthudawa said.
He told the media in Colombo yesterday, that for example, if Sinopharm has been given to a specific district, the Government will continue with Sinopharm for that district in the future too and no other brand such as Sputnik V, AstraZeneca or Pfizer will be given to that district in the future. Therefore, there is no use in waiting for another brand of vaccine.
Dr. Batuwanthudawa said that the Covid-19 vaccine can be obtained from 420 Vaccination Centres now operating islandwide.
There are Covid-19 deaths of people between the ages of 18 and 30. Therefore, it is very important for all between 18 and 30 to get the vaccines as soon as possible. All Covid-19 vaccines protect people from the disease.
The Covid-19 virus can be in a person’s upper respiratory system for days and the person can infect others without developing the disease or getting severe symptoms in the lower respiratory system. Therefore, it is very important for all vaccinated people to follow all health guidelines strictly to prevent spreading the infection in the community, he said.
Around 450,000 RAT tests and 527,431 PCR tests had been conducted during the past month (August) in Sri Lanka to detect Covid-19 patients. The average is 32,000 tests per day.
The situation has not been completely overcome but only taken a turn for the better, he said.
Consultant Virologist of the Medical research Institute (MRI) Dr. Nadeeka Janage said that if vaccinated people ignore basic health guidelines such as wearing a standard mask properly when going out from home, keeping at least a two-metre distance from other people, washing hands often with soap and water and using a standard hand sanitiser whenever soap and water not available, may lead to developing dangerous Covid-19 variants that do not respond to any of the vaccines.
Therefore, it is essential for all vaccinated people to follow all health guidelines all the time. Vaccination helps to reduce the number of deaths and complications immensely but the vaccination does not help that much to stop the spread and infect people, he said.