World News | Sri Lanka Begins Registration for COVID-19 Vaccination for General Public

Colombo, Feb 10 (PTI) Sri Lankans can now register for the COVID-19 inoculation, the Health Ministry announced on Wednesday as the coronavirus vaccination drive for the general public in the country will begin from next month.

People can now go online and register to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, the State Ministry for Primary Health Care, Epidemic and COVID Disease Control, which is part of the Health Ministry, said.

By accessing a website, they can provide personal details as well as their medical history. They are permitted to select either a government or private hospital to get the vaccination.

The vaccine is due to be made available from mid March, the ministry said.

At present, the ministry is conducting a vaccination drive to inoculate more than 260,000 frontline health workers and selected military and police officers.

The vaccination began late last month after India donated 500,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZenica vaccine, which is the only vaccine approved by the regulatory body in Sri Lanka.

Some 160,000 frontline workers, including police and the military, have received the vaccine so far.

Sri Lanka received 500,000 free doses from India and the government said a further 3 million doses were to be imported from India.

The announcement came as the island recorded its highest single-day of 900 COVID-19 cases since the outbreak last March.

Sri Lanka has recorded over 71,000 cases with 370 deaths.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)