Govt reveals official stance on Covid vaccine & local Ayurvedic cure

The Government says it has placed faith in creating a local cure for the coronavirus.

Cabinet co-spokesman Minister Ramesh Pathirane mentioned this at the weekly cabinet media briefing held yesterday.

The Minister said that the Health Ministry is in discussions with the World Health Organization (WHO) to acquire a portion of the approved COVID-19 vaccine.

“The WHO is in the process of formulating a plan to equally allocate the approved vaccine to all countries. The Health Ministry has requested the WHO to provide a portion to Sri Lanka, during recent discussions. The WHO is working on formulating a plan to provide the vaccines as requested to Sri Lanka,” he said.

Minister Pathirane also said that the Government is looking into the possibility of locally creating medicines using the Ayurvedic practice to cure the coronavirus.

“The measures to be taken in this regard will have to be consulted with Western doctors, and the medicine will have to be distributed after eradicating all possible issues. Responding to the suggestion on the medicine, Western doctors have consented to provide the locally produced medicine as a short-term solution,” he said.

Minister Ramesh Pathirane said that with COVID-19 vaccines in the making at present, it is expected that Sri Lanka will overcome the crisis within the next 03 to 06 months.