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Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thera
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Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thera recently said that there was no scientific consensus about vaccinating children against COVID-19, thus Sri Lankan children must not be used as guinea pigs.
The Ven. Thera made this statement addressing a press conference organised by the Collective to Minimise COVID deaths.
The Thera said that they did not oppose the Government’s decision to open schools. However, steps should be taken to enhance the natural immunity of children and certain tools and practices of indigenous medicines too could be used for this purpose, he said.
“We must all think long term given the impact of this crisis. However, I don’t think that those in power are taking a long view of the crisis. I spoke to Prof. Tissa Vitharana about the pandemic and he is our most authoritative virologist. I also spoke to Dr. Channa de Silva who is Chest Physician and a Paediatrician. They all think that we must not vaccinate children hurriedly,” the Thera said.
Ven. Omaple Sobitha Thera said that the WHO states that COVID-19 vaccines are safe for most people 18 years and older and that children and adolescents tend to have milder disease compared to adults, so unless they are part of a group at higher risk of severe COVID-19, it was less urgent to vaccinate them than older people, those with chronic health conditions and health workers.
“As we know, the vaccine only reduces the severity of the disease and deaths. There is also research that there are some serious side effects of the new mRNA vaccines. Go to the internet and there is a lot of evidence for this from reliable sources. Given this context, why are we in such a hurry to vaccinate our children?” the Thera asked.
The Thera also criticised the statement made by Dr. Harsha Atapattu who urged parents not to have babies for a year. “All nations of the world are facing the pandemic and not a single senior doctor who holds a key position has made such a request,” the Thera said.
“It seems that the doctors and officials put in charge of the pandemic response are just blurting things that come to their mind. They are not thinking rationally or scientifically. Meanwhile intelligent and thoughtful doctors and officials have been side-lined. Real experts are silent or have just stopped offering advice. This is why we should be wary of this sudden desire to vaccinate children with Pfizer,” he said.
The Thera said that some researchers were worried about injecting the mRNA vaccines to pregnant mothers because they worry the foetus might be affected. “Given that many tests are underway that would give us better answers about vaccinating children and children and adolescents are less affected by the virus, Sri Lanka must wait,” he said.
The Thera said that the Government must promote food supplements produced by indigenous medical practitioners to boost immunity, noting that there were a number of associations working on this regionally.
