News
‘Seek protective measures if attending functions’
Dr. Hemantha Herath
The Head of the Disaster Preparedness and Response Division of the Health Ministry, Dr. Hemantha Herath told the media on Friday that as far as he knows no Omicron cases, other than the 25-year-old woman who returned from Nigeria on November 24, have been found here. Her contacts have been traced.
The recommendations of the ministry’s advisory committee on the rollout of vaccinations were given the nod of approval at the meeting of health officials with the President on Friday morning, Dr. Herath said, explaining that the Director-General (DG) of Health Services had just signed the circular.
Here are the decisions:
- All those over 20 years of age will be eligible to get the Pfizer booster whatever two-dose vaccine they have taken, after three months have passed from the second dose. The details of when and where they can get the jab are to be announced in due course.
- All those in the 16-19 year age group who have got one dose of a vaccine are eligible for the second dose of Pfizer and it would happen not ada-hetama but when arrangements are in place.
- All those in the 12-15 year age group are to be given one dose of Pfizer.
- n The Health Ministry will coordinate with the Education Ministry with regard to the arrangements to give the vaccines to these two groups of schoolchildren (12-15 year age group and 16-19 year age group).
- Anyone who plans to go abroad and wishes to take the Pfizer vaccine can get in touch with the health officials with the relevant documents.
- Any workplace (factory, office or institution) which wants to arrange the administration of the booster for its employees (over 18 years of age), may also get in touch with the health officials.
- Moves to make it mandatory for people to carry their vaccination card in public places.
The guidelines for travellers arriving in Sri Lanka have also changed, Dr. Herath said.
- The DG of Health Services removed the ban on people from the six southern African states of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Eswatini (Swaziland). They had been banned from entering Sri Lanka from midnight on November 27 following the detection of the Omicron ‘Variant of Concern’.
- All those who arrive in Sri Lanka from abroad need an RT-PCR test taken within 72 hours which should be negative. This is applicable to all those above 12 years of age.
- The current requirement for travellers to submit a paper-based declaration form about their vaccination status has been expanded to cover electronic submissions of the information.
Dr. Susie Perera
When asked about the maintenance of the cold chain for the Pfizer vaccine which requires -70°C, he assured that they had enough storage space. They also keep a strict check on the temperature when the vaccines are being transported to different areas.
Dr. Herath said that with many events being organized, he would like to request not only the organizers but also the participants to ensure that the basic preventive measures against COVID-19 are followed.
“If the organizers have not done so, anyone who has bought a ticket can insist that such measures are followed,” he said.
Still an unknown quantity
The Deputy Director General (Public Health Services II), Dr. Susie Perera also stressed that people are requesting the Health Ministry to approve more and more functions with bigger and bigger numbers.
She appealed to the people to think whether they would like to be part of large gatherings which could set off a surge of infections. Just because you are invited, you don’t have to go. Make a decision based on rational thinking, with the foremost thought being the prevention of COVID-19.
Dr. Kalyani Guruge
Omicron is still an unknown entity. Let’s be careful, she said, urging that large gatherings should be avoided.
When asked whether there are COVID-19 infections among schoolchildren, Dr. Perera said there were because a large majority of the children are unvaccinated. But there seems to be only mild disease.
Senior Consultant Paediatrician Dr. Kalyani Guruge spoke at length on the success of the 247 call service introduced by the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA). By August, they were fielding about 1,000 calls a day, but later it dropped to about 200-300.
When asked whether, there has been a rise in the number of calls since Omicron was detected, she said that by October there was a slight increase but it was before the new variant was reported.
She also advised parents not to send their children to grandparents’ or elderly relatives’ homes, if someone in the immediate family has tested positive but to keep the children in isolation with them. Otherwise, the children carry the infection to the elderly relatives’ homes and they may face some danger because the elderly are more vulnerable.
The booster vaccination being administered at Viharamaha Devi park, Colombo on Saturday. Pic by Indika Handuwala
Request to doctors
Another fervent request that went out from Dr. Guruge was to doctors not to prescribe antibiotics or steroids unnecessarily to patients. There seems to be such administration of these powerful medicines, particularly antibiotics for viral diseases, which do not work as viruses have to run their course.
When the need arises for strong medicines, if there is pneumonia or other complications, if such medicines have been given before, they do not work. This puts the patients in jeopardy, she added.
Three doses neutralise Omicron, says Pfizer
Three doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine neutralize the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529 lineage), preliminary laboratory studies show. Two doses show significantly reduced neutralization titers, said a media release from Pfizer this week. Titers are laboratory tests that measure the level of antibodies in a blood sample.
While these results are preliminary, the company stated that it would continue to collect more laboratory data and evaluate real-world effectiveness to assess and confirm protection against Omicron.
| National Ops Centre drops virus to take up green agriculture The National Operations Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) will transform into an Operations Centre for Green Agriculture. With effect from Thursday (December 9), the NOCPCO will not do any pandemic-related activities, announced Army Commander General Shavendra Silva, who headed it.
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| Inter-district travel restrictions will help curb spread as ‘hidden’ positives rise – PHIsThe number of COVID-19 patients has increased compared to the past few months and is now exceeding 700-800, said the Public Health Inspectors’ (PHIs’) Union Secretary M. Balasooriya, pointing out that the number of “hidden” positives is also increasing.“The hidden positives could be at least five times more, around 4,000, of the reported patients. These are from private clinics and hospitals rather than government hospitals. More symptomatic people are also being reported, but are not seeking treatment. They are going about their work or staying home,” he said.Mr. Balasooriya warned that the coming fortnight is crucial as it is the holiday season. Patient numbers could increase and a lockdown will not be effective as the spread has risen across the country. A total lockdown is unlikely due to the economic fallout, but inter-district travel restrictions would be useful to limit disease-spread. Regarding the Omicron variant, he advised that clinics should inform the relevant medical authorities of the actual details of patients. There should be more vigilance and stricter monitoring at the airport. He was of the view that there could be more Omicron-infected persons in society than the one detected case and urged people to be careful. Limit travel as much as possible during the festive season and have home celebrations with close family instead of crossing districts, etc. |
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