Booster doses also in schools for adults side-by-side with student jabs

Here are the highlights of Friday’s media briefing at the Health Promotion Bureau (HPB) chaired by Director Dr. Ranjith Batuwanthudawe.

Dr. Batuwanthudawe:

Omicron is a highly transmissible variant. According to statistics from England and other countries, even though there is less disease severity there seems to be an increase in hospitalizations. Certain restrictions have been imposed in cities such as New Delhi, India, with the spread of the disease.

Since England started giving the booster doses initially, we see that the disease spread is being controlled to an extent.

The Sri Lanka healthcare system is taking measures to handle patients in the event of rapid disease transmission. The Health Ministry has decided to administer booster doses at locations where vaccinations are taking place for those over 12 in schools. This is to encourage parents, guardians, van drivers, teachers, etc., to get their booster.

The Health Ministry’s Acting Director of Tertiary Care Services, Dr. Ayanthi Karunarathne:

The home-based management of COVID-19 patients [the Patient Home Isolation and Management Systems (PHIMS)] is being implemented extensively.

A patient can get registered for this service by dialling the Hotline: 1990. There is no necessity to get registered with the area Medical Officer of Health (MOH) or the Public Health Inspector (PHI). The details on how to register are on the Health Ministry website. When asked about hospitalizations increasing in other countries such as India:In Sri Lanka, patients who are eligible for home-based care can recover under the guidance of doctors, which in turn, would reduce the numbers seeking hospital admissions. Then critical patients who need admission can be in hospital.