Ranil unhappy about Sri Lanka’s preparations for COVID-19 vaccine

United National Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe expressed concerns over the government’s programme to get down vaccines for the prevention of the spread of COVID-19, claiming that a proper action plan has not been put in place while other countries have already started vaccinating persons.

Mr Wickremesinghe made these comments during a question and answer session held in Mirihana on Saturday (16),  with youth about challengers the country was  facing and how to overcome the COVID-19 situation as a nation.

“Some countries have already started vaccinating the public systematically. We have no plan for vaccination programme in Sri Lanka. First they (the government) said we were all getting a vaccine in March. It’s a total false claim. We haven't purchased the vaccine properly yet. Our Health Minister said in November that under the COVAX programme we were going to sign the agreement to get the vaccine. They didn't tell anything about the process thereafter”, he said.

“Now there are different types of COVID-19 virus strains. The UK strain is a big problem. It has spread to Europe, America and  even now to Sri Lanka. There is another strain in South Africa. Some vaccines are not capable enough to fight with some strains of the virus. There is a new strain form Brazil also”, he added.

Mr Wickremesinghe pointed out that there is a process on getting the vaccine under the COVAX programme and claimed that Sri Lanka has not followed the process correctly.

“There is an allocation mechanism from WHO. It has to be a fair distribution.  For that WHO has now prepared   another plan – ‘Guidance on developing national deployment and vaccination plan for COVID- 19 vaccine’. It’s a systematic process. We haven’t prepared that plan as a country. That is a major issue. We have to include it in the budget”, Mr Wickremesinghe pointed out.

“They say it will take three years to get it. Government is not saying the actual situation to the public”, Mr Wickremesinghe said in response to a question.

“We have to have a National Committee - a ‘Strategic Advisory Group of Experts’ - the head of which has to be a senior official from the health sector. We don't have a committee like that in Sri Lanka headed by a health official,” he pointed out.

(Pix and text by Amila Prabodha Gamage)