Covishield for frontline workers’ booster shots must be made available before remaining doses are used to inoculate others — Ravi

By Rathindra Kuruwita

The government has to ensure that enough stocks of Covishield vaccine will be available before the remaining 250,000 doses set aside as booster shots for frontline workers are used to inoculate others, President of the College of Medical Laboratory Science, Ravi Kumudesh says.

Kumudesh told The Island that, in theory they had no problem in delaying the administering of the booster doses to the frontline workers. Earlier this week, Army Commander and Head of the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak, General Shavendra Silva said that vaccination of non-frontline workers could start from next week. The 250,000 vaccines remaining from the Indian donation too could be used for that purpose, he said.

“India gave us 500,000 vaccines free of charge for frontline workers. We gave them the first jab and initially we had planned to give them the second jab after four to six weeks. However, experts say that for the vaccine to be effective, the two doses should not be more than 12 weeks apart. The President has asked us to look at the possibility of giving the remaining 250,000 doses to the general public.”

Kumudesh said that the government should ensure that India provided Sri Lanka with a future supply of its Covidshield vaccines when starting the inoculation of the members of the public. He said that there had been delays in the supply of the vaccine in other parts of the world.

“We can’t just hope that India will give another consignments of Covishield. It also needs millions of doses, and it must be having its own list of priorities when it comes to supplying the vaccine to other countries. So, the government must be 100% sure that India will give more doses.”

Kumudesh pointed out that the frontline workers who got the first dose of the vaccine couldn’t be given a second jab from another type of vaccine if India fails provide the country with adequate Covidshield as contracted. “The government has to think of that too. We cannot give a second jab from a US, Chinese or Russian vaccine. It will be a waste of both.