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All clergy have vaccine priority

26 Feb 2021

All religious clergy are eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had advised to prioritise the clergy in the vaccination programme, according to Secretary to the State Ministry of Primary Healthcare, Epidemics, and Covid Disease Control Dr. Amal Harsha de Silva. Speaking to The Morning on 24 February, Dr. de Silva said that the first phase of vaccine administration would cater to the clergy in high-risk areas in the Western Province. “We are administering the Covid-19 vaccine to all clergy including the Mahanayakes (Chief Prelates) of the three Sects. Clergy in the Western Province will have the priority during the vaccine administration. However, the clergy in other parts of the country will also be vaccinated during the coming week,” he said. Previously, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had ordered that the Mahanayakes be inoculated. Sri Lanka’s vaccine prioritisation process has come under criticism, including from the College of Community Physicians as of late, for deviating from the originally planned and listed priority groups to also include parliamentarians on the premise that they interact heavily with the public. This allegation has, however, been countered by the authorities including the Ministry of Health Epidemiology Unit, stating that the fact that such changes to prioritisations would be made as the situation evolves had been mentioned prior to the vaccine procurement applications themselves.


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