Sri Lankan Member of parliament J.C. Alawathuwala accused the Government of Sri Lankan for not handling the Corona cases in Srilanka properly. He has also said that covid cases in India rise now Sri Lankan Star hotels have become quarantine place for those who travel to foreign countries. While meeting journalist in the opposition leader’s office he said though the health department has given the caution about corona spread during the Tamil new year and Sinhala new year, the government has not responded well.
Another Member of parliament Tissa Vitharana said that the government’s action to control covid is not satisfactory and the number of PCR tests has been reduced in order to show the low case rate. He also said that the Health ministry has worked in an irresponsible manner.
Meanwhile, Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera told reporters that with the current situation in India it is looking more and more difficult to believe that the Serum Institute will be in a position to dispatch the remaining AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine stocks ordered by Sri Lanka. He said that while discussions are still ongoing they do not expect to receive the Covishield vaccine anytime soon.
As a result, he said that research is being conducted into the mix and match option where one dose can be one vaccine and the second dose another vaccine brand. He said that if the research is successful then a different vaccine brand will be given to those who obtained the AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine.
Sri Lanka has so far used the AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine while stocks of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine are currently in Sri Lanka awaiting clearance to be used on locals. The Sputnik V vaccine purchased from Russian is also scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka soon.
