From mid-September onwards, Sri Lanka will issue a digital Covid vaccination card to those who have been fully vaccinated.
According to Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, 75% of people over the age of 30 will be vaccinated by the first week of September, and from September 15 onwards, those who have received both doses will be issued a digital card.
Earlier this month, Army Commander General Shavendra Silva, who also serves as the head of the National Operations Centre for the Prevention of the Covid-19 Outbreak, announced that the government intends to make vaccination certificates mandatory for those who visit public places, use public transportation, or cross provinces.
On Wednesday, the Army Commander stated that more than half of those over the age of 30 had already received two doses of the vaccine, and he urged those over the age of 60 to get immunised as soon as possible.
Military-controlled vaccination centres have been established throughout the country, and army-operated mobile vaccination fleets have been deployed to provide Covid vaccines to the elderly, sick, handicapped, and feeble sections.
On Tuesday, epidemiologists announced that 91% of those who died from Covid-19 had not been vaccinated, while 8% had only received one dose. Around 77% of those who died were over the age of 60.
In response to the rapidly spreading transmissible Delta variant, Sri Lanka plans to vaccinate all adults over the age of 30 and children over the age of 12.
Health officials announced that, in place of the Alpha variant, which was dominant previously, the Delta variant has now taken over, and this variant is found in 75% of new cases.
In Sri Lanka, medical experts discovered four Delta variant mutations.
According to Neelika Malavige, the HoD of Immunology and Molecular Sciences at Sri Jayawardenapura University, additional research is being conducted in collaboration with international laboratories to determine how far these mutations have spread and the rate at which they are transmitted.
Sri Lanka reported 4,446 new Codid cases and 190 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the island nation’s total Covid death toll to 7,750.
