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Sudarshini to alert authorities about favouritism

13 May 2021

  • Says no vaccine shortage

  • Doses to centres such as Kottawa East don’t account for temp residents: Health Min. official

By Hiranyada Dewasiri   Following news reports that Covid-19 vaccination was allegedly taking place at the Castle Street Hospital for Women vaccination centre on the basis of personal connections, State Minister of Primary Healthcare, Epidemics, and Covid-19 Disease Control Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle said she would bring the matter to the notice of the relevant authorities. Dr. Fernandopulle said that complaints have not been received on the matter so far, and therefore requested those with complaints to produce them in writing to Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Asela Gunawardena. “I will alert the relevant authorities to initiate an investigation. We will have to carry out an investigation into it. No complaints have been received so far. Therefore, I request those who have experienced such a situation to send it to the DGHS in writing.” It was reported that government servants who had arrived at the said hospital after having been notified that they would be vaccinated had been turned away and asked to leave at 2.30 p.m., claiming the hospital has run out of vaccines. However, in the news reports, a government servant who had queued to get vaccinated had alleged that some individuals were entering from the back door to be vaccinated owing to their personal connections. Meanwhile, when queried yesterday about whether there is a shortage of vaccines, Dr. Fernandopulle said there is no such shortage and that 300,000 persons would be vaccinated with the currently available 600,000 doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, adding that the remainder would be kept to administer the second dose. It was also reported that 600,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine would be received by the country in two weeks’ time. However, there were also reports of the Kottawa East vaccination centre having to turn away those who queued to receive the second dose due to the centre running out of doses. When inquired, a Ministry of Health official said that this could be because of the difficulty in gathering accurate data on the demographics when deciding on the amount of vaccine stocks to be sent to the centres. The source also said the estimations for the number of vaccines required are taken from the voter registry and that these lists do not account for the temporary residents in the area who would also come to be vaccinated.


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