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Prisoners start getting booster

30 Dec 2021

  • 18,453 inmates eligible
BY Buddhika Samaraweera The Prisons Department stated that the programme to administer the Covid-19 booster third dose to prison inmates commenced yesterday (29). Prisons Department Media Spokesman and Prisons Commissioner Chandana Ekanayake said the first phase of the programme commenced yesterday with the administration of the Covid-19 vaccine booster third dose to inmates at the Welikada, Magazine, Colombo Remand, Watareka, Mahara, and Negombo Prisons. He added that inmates at other prisons would be vaccinated in the next few days and that a total of 18,453 inmates had been identified as eligible for the booster third dose. The vaccination of prison inmates against Covid-19 with the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine commenced on 5 August 2021. The second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine was given to inmates in September, and the Prisons Department had received the stock of vaccines at the request of the State Ministry of Prison Management and Prisoners’ Rehabilitation. Sri Lanka is currently administering the US-German-made Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine as the booster third dose. Meanwhile, State Minister of Production, Supply, and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Prof. Channa Jayasumana yesterday told the media that out of the 14 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine ordered for use as the booster third dose, 6.4 million doses have already been received, while the remaining 7.6 million doses are expected to arrive in the country within the next two weeks.


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