By Rathindra Kuruwita

The frontline workers who are being vaccinated have not been told the period in which the effects of the COVID-19 vaccine would last, Education Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) Pubudu Jayagoda yesterday told The Island.

Jayagoda said that it was important for these frontline workers as well as other citizens to know how long the immunity given by the vaccine would last.

“We need to vaccinate people as soon as possible. For vaccines to work properly a significant majority of the people have to be vaccinated.

Jayagoda pointed out that the government had not ordered vaccines against COVID-19 apart from the consignment donated by India to Sri Lanka free of charge and the lot promised by China. The government had sought to exploit the vaccination programme to gain political mileage, he added.

“We need to vaccinate millions of people. The government has not placed any orders; it has not told us how it will find the money to procure the vaccine.”

The FSP Education Secretary said the government had given up trying to control the pandemic and was now only interested in increasing opportunities for the private sector to profit off peoples’ misery.

“On Sunday, we revealed how the government was deliberately neglecting the quarantine and treatment centres it maintained so as to make people pay large sums for being quarantined at private facilities. It will be the same with vaccines. People will be compelled to pay private institutions to get the jab.”