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No military vaccination for pregnant women

09 Aug 2021

BY Dinitha Rathnayake The vaccination of pregnant women is not being carried out at Army-run 24-hour vaccination centres owing to the requisite special consent letters allegedly not being provided by the relevant health authorities to these centres. When The Morning inquired about the vaccination process for pregnant women from the Army, it was learnt that these centres are also not provided with the essential facilities to vaccinate pregnant women. “There is a special consent letter provided for pregnant women. These papers should be provided by the MOH (Medical Officer of Health), but 24-hour centres still haven’t received them. This is a special category where the vaccine centres should provide special facilities for pregnant women, the same as is the case with emergency care. Therefore, the Army centres don’t provide the vaccine for pregnant women.” However, the vaccination of expectant mothers commenced on 9 June and is scheduled to be completed within one month despite these issues, The Morning learnt. The current process is to call pregnant women who are identified by the relevant area MOH with the help of midwives for a common clinic on a specific date and to administer the vaccine according to their health status and duration of the pregnancy. Meanwhile, Ministry of Health Deputy Director General of Public Health Services and Disaster Preparedness and Response Division Head Dr. Hemantha Herath, speaking to The Morning, said that pregnant women are encouraged to get the vaccine from 24 hours vaccination centres operated by the Army. He emphasised, however, that the vaccine would be administered according to their health status. Meanwhile, Dr. Herath also admitted that the process was, at present, slow. The Health Ministry notified that the Covid-19 vaccines will be given for vulnerable pregnant women from 9 June and this was approved by the Health Ministry at the request of the Sri Lanka College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. According to the Health Ministry, around 275,000 pregnant women are being treated in hospitals Islandwide and health sector officials assured that the vaccination drive will give more protection for the pregnant women at risk and to newborns. Furthermore, vulnerable pregnant women will be vaccinated based on several measures such as their age, morbidity, and susceptibility to disease. The Health Ministry earlier said that more than 2,250 pregnant women were infected with Covid-19. Family Health Bureau (FHB) Director Dr. Chithramalee de Silva said that in Sri Lanka, more than 13 pregnant women had died of Covid-19 so far. Therefore, she urged pregnant women to seek treatment as soon as possible, if they experience symptoms of Covid-19. Currently, pregnant women are being vaccinated with the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine.


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