Sri Lanka mulling to make Covid vaccine card mandatory

Colombo, Dec 10 Sri Lanka is mulling to make the Covid vaccine card mandatory for those entering public places, the President's Office announced on Friday.

The Special Committee on Covid-19 Control stated that it has decided to make the vaccination card mandatory when entering public places in the future. However, it stated that legal advice has also been sought with regard to preventing those who have not obtained the vaccine from entering public places in order to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

The Health Ministry is also planning to replace the physical vaccination card with a mobile application.

Meanwhile, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa instructed the members of the Special Committee to take necessary steps to complete administering booster doses within the next two weeks to control the spread of Covid-19 during the upcoming festive season.

On Friday, the island nation also started rolling out the Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot for those above 30 years who have received two jabs of any Covid-19 vaccine. Since October, booster doses have been administered to front-line health workers and those above 60 years.

The country has given green light to administer the second dose for children between the ages of 16 and 19 and the first dose for all children between the ages of 12 and 15.

Determined to boost the tourism against the backdrop of the country is undergoing a severe financial crisis, President Rajapaksa instructed to further relax the restrictions imposed on tourism.

The travel ban imposed on November 27 on travellers from six African countries South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini, following the news on the spread of new Omicron variant of Covid-19, was lifted on Friday.

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