Letters to the Editor
View(s):The National Council of Elders should step in to see that elders are prioritized for vaccination
Accepted procedure abroad: An old woman is kissed by a health worker after receiving a dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Colombia. AFP
It is the internationally accepted principle that senior citizens be given priority when administering the COVID-19 jabs. But according to media reports, it appears that our Health authorities have ignored this procedure.
Under the protection of the Right of the Elders Act No. 9 of 2000, as amended by the Act No. 5 of 2011, elders were issued with Elders Identity cards in order to facilitate the receipt of the benefits and concessions available to elders in both public and private sector services. There it is stipulated that Elders cardholders should be given priority in health services too.
As such the National Council of Elders established under Section 2 of the Act, as amended should take appropriate action to enlighten the authorities concerned regarding this burning issue, so that they could rectify it early.
A. B. Gamage Via email
Sharing my experience to help others with repatriation
After being held up in the USA for nearly a year in what was originally meant to be a 10-week holiday, I had the good fortune to return to Sri Lanka earlier this month. Undergoing my mandatory quarantine in a paid facility in Sigiriya, I wanted to share my story mainly to counter some of the adverse speculation and lack of information relating to repatriation of Sri Lankans.
When I learned of a cousin’s return from Melbourne sometime in late September 2020, I decided that it’s time for me to check whether I would stand a chance of getting back. Initial feedback was not very encouraging. I was advised to have approximately Rs. 500,000 to begin with. Step No. 1 was to register myself in the closest Sri Lankan mission overseas which was Washington DC in my case. The registration process was efficient and was carried out on email with me filling up two separate forms sent by the embassy. Submitting an undertaking to bear the cost of my air ticket, paid quarantine and cost of PCR tests was part of the arrangement.
While things looked promising up to that point, unexpectedly the second wave of COVID-19 hit Sri Lanka hard, with air traffic to Colombo being suspended again. And so I had to watch the situation and wait again. The Embassy in DC informed me that all repatriation flights had been suspended until further notice. Then in early December I heard of a friend of mine who was stranded in an East Asian capital receiving approval to return, not on a repatriation flight but on a commercial flight. That was the news I was waiting for. The possibility of returning on a commercial flight was available right along at decent prices, but the stumbling block was that I needed prior approval from the Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry and the Civil Aviation authorities for me to return.
I did some exhaustive research and found that seeking direct approval from the Foreign Ministry would be the way forward. I was told that I may have to write multiple times as the Foreign Ministry was inundated with similar requests from Sri Lankans stranded in all corners of the world. I forwarded my case to the Foreign Ministry just after Christmas 2020. There was no response. Since it was the festive holiday period, I wasn’t discouraged. I tried for a second time on the 31st of December and a miracle happened. Within less than 12 hours I received an email granting me approval to return to Colombo and the rest is history.
The next part was the dreaded quarantine that all returnees have to undergo. After reading quite a few horror stories of experiences faced by some of the returnees, my family in Lanka and I braced for the unknown. Mercifully, I ended up in a salubrious old hotel in Sigiriya where we have been well cared for.
After listening to my ‘home coming story’ there were many who encouraged me to go public with it to offset the common belief of the fear of the unknown that awaits the returnees and also to highlight some key individuals who work hard in this effort. I would like to name two who were involved in the process I went through in a highly efficient way. The Second Secretary of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington DC handling the repatriation operation Niranga Palipana is one. If you send him any email inquiry you are assured of a response generally within the day if not within minutes. Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the person responsible for sifting through thousands of emails on a daily basis and granting approval based on the strength of each case. My utmost respect to the two gentlemen. (Note that this relates to the process in place as at December 2020 which may have changed by now).
In conclusion, I observe that the process of repatriation of Sri Lankans has evolved to a much better level by now, despite the rocky start. There are on-going debates on the issue of the length of quarantine period and on the effectiveness of carrying out a PCR test on the day a person arrives in Sri Lanka which is not in-line with what most of the other countries with a greater level of success in controlling the COVID pandemic in their countries follow. Such information is readily available in cyberspace for anyone to learn from.
My parting prayer is that the respective authorities would take the initiative to improve this process further, making the return less of a financial burden for individuals and a meaningful activity based on what is already known in effectively controlling the pandemic in a country.
Under Quarantine Via email
The whole point of the vaccine is primarily to save lives
I was amazed to read in the newspapers that the Health authorities had decided that immune-suppressed persons are not entitled to get the vaccine.
This is not correct – they have to get the vaccine.
They fall into a very vulnerable group and they, I repeat, have to be given the Covid-19 vaccine on a priority basis.
The vaccine is primarily meant to save lives.
Please take remedial action.
Nihal Jayamanne, PC Colombo 8