Vaccine caution

Saturday, 31 July 2021 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

With each passing day, Sri Lanka’s vaccination drive gathers pace at an impressive rate. Quite incredibly, earlier this week, Sri Lanka vaccinated more people in a day than the United States. While this may say more about US citizens’ vaccine hesitancy, it is nevertheless an impressive feat considering the vast differences in population size of the two countries.

So, as we head into August, Sri Lanka has administered over 9 million vaccines, with 80% of individuals over the age of 30 now having received at least the first dose of a vaccine. And it’s pleasing to see that the country is not resting on its laurels, with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa this week having issued directives to identify unvaccinated individuals.

Considering the state the Sri Lankan economy is in at present, it goes without saying how important having a fully vaccinated population is. However, ever since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, the one thing the COVID-19 virus has shown for sure is that it is adaptable. So now, with the latest Delta variant, reports are filtering through of it impacting fully vaccinated individuals as well.

Indeed, the Delta variant has decimated Indonesia’s healthcare system, with many fully vaccinated individuals being reported to have contracted the virus. Even in the US, where just a few months ago fully vaccinated individuals were being allowed to congregate sans face mask, the Delta variant has got health officials scrambling in fear of a COVID resurgence.

All this is to say, that despite the vaccination drive going full throttle, Sri Lankans cannot let their guard down. Sri Lanka need not look much further than their neighbours; the full-blown humanitarian crisis in parts of India should be a frightening lesson to Sri Lankan politicians and key officials. The Indian Government allowed complacency to creep in, rolled back restrictions and conducted political campaigns on the assumption that the country was turning the corner on the pandemic.

These turned out to be false, and when a new variant entered the mix, the death toll skyrocketed – many below the age of 40, the most affected – the healthcare system collapsed and India became one of the worst COVID-19-hit countries in the world.

The multiple errors by the Indian Government should be a severe warning to their counterparts in Colombo. Sri Lankan politicians are fond of avoiding their responsibilities and then blaming the public when things go wrong.

So yes, reopening borders and the economy as a whole is crucial and an important goal to strive towards. However, it’s equally important that the Government not allow the public to let down their collective guard.

PCR testing also needs to be increased; the past week saw an average of a little over 12,000 tests done per day. When you consider that over 2,000 of these are returning positive results, it’s clear that testing levels are woefully inadequate.

Further to this, the Government must push for the continued use of work-from-home measures and remote working for both the public and private sectors. As with the latest studies highlighting an increased likelihood of more variants – ones resistant to the presently available vaccines – popping up in the years ahead, it would be prudent that even with an opening up of the country, sustainable health and safety measures be implemented for the long haul.