PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY TO FACILITATE COVID-19 IMMUNIZATION

COLOMBO (News 1st): The Ministry of Health is currently in the process of preparing at its maximum capacity for the immunization process, which will begin as soon as a COVID-19 vaccine is ready to be rolled out, health officials said on Friday (Dec. 11). "Although there is no definite date or time period as to when the vaccine will be rolled out, preparations are underway to ensure there are adequate transportation, storage facilities, and the infrastructure to facilitate the immunization process once the vaccine is obtained," Dr. Hemantha Herath, the Deputy Director-General of Health Services told reporters on Friday (Dec. 11). While reiterating that there is no definite date or time period as to when the vaccine will be rolled out, Dr. Hemantha Herath, the Deputy Director-General of Health Services emphasized that According to Dr. Herath, there are concerns at present on how to reach out to the identified communities, the procedure to be followed, i.e. whether to gather the recipients to one location or medical officers to visit location by location to carry out the immunization. "We need to identify who should be given prominence in the immunization process once the COVID-19 vaccine is obtained," Dr. Hemantha Herath, the Deputy DGHS further noted.