The Health Ministry’s controversial decision to vaccinate people below 30 years with the Pfizer vaccine in the Hambantota district was once again questioned by the Government Nursing Officers’ Association Chair Saman Rathnapriya. At a press conference yesterday, he stated that if the relevant Pfizer doses were allocated to school children and university students, the process of educating the youth in this country will be able to resume operations. He also added that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended the Pfizer vaccine for this purpose. “There is a low number of Pfizer vaccines coming into the country. This is mainly because it is expensive and we do not have the proper storage facilities for this vaccine. In other countries the Pfizer vaccines are given to school children and schools have reopened,” he said. Rathnapriya went on to say that different approaches are taken for vaccines in different districts, and that there is no proper structure for decisions made, further accusing the Ministry of Health for not taking heed to health professionals and instead allowing politicians to make pandemic control decisions.