Progress on second booster dose rollout not satisfactory: Dr. Ginige

Claiming that Sri Lanka is yet to be out of the woods with the looming Covid-19 threat, Epidemiology Unit Director Dr. Samitha Ginige said today the progress of obtaining the fourth dose or the second booster dose of the Covid vaccine was not at all satisfactory.

He told a news conference at the Health Promotion Bureau that only nearly 150,000 people had obtained the second booster dose by now.

Dr. Ginige said the fourth dose or the second booster dose of the Covid vaccine was recommended for high risk groups such as people over 60-years of age and people with chronic diseases.

“We recommend that the second booster dose should be obtained three months after obtaining the first booster dose. However, the progress of obtaining the second booster dose is not at all satisfactory.”

He said that there were sufficient stocks of Covid vaccines right now as all the required vaccines for people over 20 had been procured and that only around 5,000 people turn up daily to obtain the vaccine by now.

Dr. Ginige said there was an increase in the number of Covid patients during the last few weeks and that the number of deaths were also increasing in line with the increase of the number of cases.

He said it was vital for people to obtain the booster dose and adapt to health practices to prevent the disease being spread among the community. (Ajith Siriwardana)