"Fully vaccinated need not fear about COVID variants" - Prof. Malavige

Prof. Neelika Malavige of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the Sri Jayawardanapura Hospital said although numerous COVID-19 related variants are reported, people should not be scared and panic over them as long as they have received the vaccines and therefore, we as professionals in the health sector urge everybody to get vaccinated without further delay in order to get rid of this virus.

Prof. Malavige was speaking at a medical discussion organised by the Media Ministry on Sunday with the participation of eminent medical personalities including Physician Dr. Ananda Wijewickrame and Physician Dr. Priyankara Jayawardena.

Prof. Malavige recalled the deadliest (Spanish Flu) virus that broke out in the world during the period between 1918- 1919, killing over 50 million people. She said the vaccine is the only solution as there is no other alternative to get rid of this virus.

“Therefore, I once again urge people to go for any approved vaccine since every vaccine is highly recognized and approved by the World Health Organizations (WHO).”

Prof. Malavige said when the spread of one variant declines new variants are discovered. People need not fear about these variants if they have already received the COVID-19 vaccines.

She said although Sri Lanka is not a developed country, over 51 per cent total population has so far been totally vaccinated and the next plan is to vaccine people between 20 to 30 years.

Dr. Wijewickrame said apart from the vaccination, people also have to take various precautionary measures to get rid of this virus.

He said during last month, the majority of COVID-19 deaths reported were that of people who had not been vaccinated and asked people to maintain maximum protection even after receiving the vaccines.

He said the health sector is happy to see the measures so far taken to control the spread of the virus as this could be seen in the significant drop in the number of COVID-19 patients as well as COVID related deaths in the country

Physician Dr. Priyankara Jayawardena requested people not be scared about this disease and to avoid spending money unnecessarily for COVID related medical examinations.