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Government to make vaccination mandatory

09 Jan 2022

  • All three doses to become compulsory in SL
By Buddhika Samaraweera The Ministry of Health has stated that there is a plan to make it mandatory for the people to obtain the first, second, and booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines, although no timeframe regarding its implementation can be specified. Speaking to The Morning yesterday (9), Ministry of Health Communications Director, Public Health Services Deputy Director General (DDG), and Disaster Preparedness and Response Division Head Dr. Hemantha Herath said: “No gazette notification has been issued yet making it mandatory for the people to obtain Covid-19 vaccines. It is not possible to say exactly when it will be issued, but there is a plan for making the receipt of first, second, and booster Covid-19 vaccine doses mandatory.” He added that in addition to announcing the said matter regarding Covid-19 vaccination in a gazette notification, the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) could also issue a circular in this regard. Dr. Herath also pointed out that the whole process could fail if the problems in the process had not been properly addressed and that the said programme’s implementation would take some time. “This is not something that can be implemented all at once. There are some problematic situations which may arise and therefore, we have to focus on it or else this programme may completely fail. Given the matter, those involved are currently studying those issues,” he said. He further stated that the public should have a confirmation that they have been vaccinated and the health sector should also have a mechanism to get such verified. Noting that only the vaccine card was used for this purpose previously, Dr. Herath said that certain other methods, such as QR codes and mobile applications, can also be used for it at present. Speaking to the media late last week, Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella had stated that the booster Covid-19 dose would also be made mandatory to be marked on the vaccine card, for those who are entering public places. He had said that the definition of being fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in the future would be altered to those who have obtained all three vaccine doses, and not only two. Despite earlier statements by Rambukwella and Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga to the effect that it would be made mandatory for the people to have Covid-19 vaccination cards in possession when entering public places from 1 January 2022, the the Health Minister last week said that it had been decided to delay the implementation of the said decision, citing some “technical issues”. When contacted by The Morning on 2 December, Rambukwella stated the Health Ministry had decided to delay making the possession of vaccination cards mandatory for the people when entering public places. “There are a few technical issues that need to be addressed, especially things like the development of a mobile application and a QR (quick response) code. So we decided to delay this for another week or two. However, we will be able to implement the decision within the next two weeks,” he added.


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