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Vaccinating O/L, A/L students: Approximately 750,000 vaccines needed

03 Jul 2021

  • Requests made to Health Ministry; no decision yet 

  • Teachers, staff vaccination to go ahead as planned 

  • Advisory Comm. yet to recommend; suitable jab undecided 

  • Opening schools with less than 100 students in the pipeline 

By Yumiko Perera Sri Lanka would require nearly 750,000 vaccines if the country is looking at vaccinating schoolchildren in the GCE Ordinary Level (O/L) and Advanced Level (A/L) classes, The Sunday Morning learnt.  Several countries have already started inoculating schoolchildren. However, schoolchildren and young adults are still at the bottom of the priority list for the time being, as Sri Lanka is prioritising the inoculation of individuals of the age of 30 years and above.  According to Education Ministry Secretary Prof. Kapila Perera, although several requests have been made in this regard to the Health Ministry, no concrete decision has been made yet. Speaking with The Sunday Morning, he said: "There is no progress on this front yet, but it is something we have asked the Government to take into account. For now, as per the Government's plan, individuals above the age of 30 are the main priority group that would be inoculated. "For the A/L students, we would require nearly 400,000 vaccines, and for the O/L students, we would require nearly 350,000 vaccines, and approximately 750,000 vaccines would therefore be required in total," he elaborated.  Stating that the vaccination programme for teachers and staff would commence as planned, Prof. Perera explained that the vaccine shortage is what is holding the Government back.  Also speaking with The Sunday Morning, Health Ministry’s Communications Director, Public Health Services Deputy Director General, and Disaster Preparedness and Response Division Head Dr. Hemantha Herath noted that they are yet to receive any recommendations from the relevant advisory committee on whether children should be vaccinated.  “There are several aspects that need to be taken into consideration if we are to vaccinate schoolchildren. For example, we would also have to determine as to what is the most suitable vaccine that the children should be inoculated with. However, no concrete decisions have been made in this regard as of yet," Dr. Herath explained.  Meanwhile, in a media briefing held on Friday (2), Education Minister Prof. G.L Peiris, citing the impact that the closure of schools due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation has brought upon the education system in the country, stated that steps must be taken to open schools gradually.  Further emphasising that the Education Ministry is considering reopening schools with less than 100 students across the country in July, he added that the Ministry plans to reopen 2,962 schools, including 1,439 schools with less than 50 children, and 1,523 schools with 51 to 100 children, based on the health authorities’ recommendations. 


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