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Risk of new variants if Omicron spreads 

07 Jan 2022

  • Ministry of Health urges timely vaccination 
BY Buddhika Samaraweera  The Ministry of Health has pointed out that it is important for everyone eligible to be vaccinated against Covid-19 on time as there is a risk of new Covid-19 variants emerging if the spread of the Covid-19 Omicron variant increases. Speaking at a media briefing held yesterday (6), Ministry of Health Communications Director, Public Health Services Deputy Director General, and Disaster Preparedness and Response Division Head Dr. Hemantha Herath said: “The more a virus spreads, the more it replicates, and when the virus replicates in that way, new variants are more likely to emerge.”  He also said that the Covid-19 vaccines would help prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, including the Omicron variant, in the country. He added that if the spread of Covid-19 is prevented, the emergence of new Covid-19 variants can also be avoided. “Currently, those who are eligible for the second Covid-19 vaccine should take it immediately, and those who are eligible for the booster dose should take it as soon as possible, thereby preventing the spread of Covid-19, including the Omicron variant,” Dr. Herath added. Meanwhile, when queried by the media about the slight increase in the number of Covid-19 cases being reported daily these days, he said that the health sector was expecting an increase in the number of such cases being reported, especially after the festive season. According to the Epidemiology Unit, Sri Lanka, as of 10 a.m. yesterday, has recorded 15,065 Covid-19 deaths while the total number of infections stood at 589,479, of which a total of 561,557 patients have recovered. The data available at the Epidemiology Unit, as of Wednesday (5), revealed that a total of 29,849,363 Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered including 2,898,224 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine, 22,985,662 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, 314,922 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, 2,058,393 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and 1,592,162 doses of the Moderna vaccine. In addition, 4,198,427 Pfizer-BioNTech doses have been administered as booster doses.


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