Sri Lanka vaccination to expand to other parts of country by next week

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has begun inoculating front-line health workers, military troops and police officers against COVID-19 amid warnings about infections among medical workers, according to The Associated Press.

Sri Lanka on Thursday received 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine donated by India and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.

According to The Associated Press., the government says 150,000 health workers and 115,000 selected military and police will be the first recipients.

Sri Lanka’s regulatory body approved the vaccine last week as doctors were warning that front-line health workers should be quickly inoculated to prevent the medical system from collapsing due to infections among medical staff.

According to The Associated Press., the vaccination takes place at six state-run hospitals in Colombo and suburbs and two hospitals run by the army for four days.

The Health Ministry said it will expand to other parts of the country by next week. Sri Lanka vaccinated 5,286 frontline workers on Friday, the first day of the country’s immunization drive. the ministry said.

The ministry has planned up to 4,000 vaccination centers countrywide.

Most of Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 cases and deaths have occurred since October when clusters centered on a garment factory and a fish market emerged in the capital Colombo and its suburbs.

It’s had 61,585 cases with 297 fatalities since March and adds between 300 to 900 new cases every day.