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‘Vaccination strategy to blame for over 60s death rate’

31 Aug 2021

  • Medical specialists highlight shift from over 60s to over 30s
  • Keheliya-GMOA discuss vaccination drive
BY Buddhika Samaraweera The Association of Medical Specialists of Sri Lanka (AMS) has pointed out that the current situation with regard to the Covid-19 pandemic would not have arisen if the vaccination programme had been implemented prioritising the provision of Covid-19 vaccines to the population over 60 years of age. Speaking at a media briefing yesterday (30), AMS Executive Committee Member Dr. Asoka Gunaratne said that at present, it is clear that Covid-19 infections mostly cause serious complications and deaths in people over 60 years of age. “The Covid-19 vaccination programme was initially aimed at people over 60 years of age, but for some reason, the age limit was lowered to 30 years. As a result, the population over the age of 60 could not be fully vaccinated,” he said. Meanwhile, Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella and the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) held a discussion on 27 August regarding the acceleration of the Covid-19 vaccination programme for persons over 60 years of age. The Minister had further stated on his official Facebook account that arrangements are being made to fully vaccinate the population by the end of the year. Rambukwella has also noted that as of 26 August, 25% of the population had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. However, nearly 200 Covid-19 deaths have been reported daily over the past few days and most of them were of those over the age of 60 years. It was also reported that many of them had not received the Covid-19 vaccines.


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