President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday (10) instructed the members of the Special Committee on COVID-19 Control to complete administering booster doses within the next two weeks to control the spread of COVID-19 during the coming festive season.

The President made these remarks during the meeting of the Special Committee on COVID-19 Control held at the Presidential Secretariat. All those who have completed three months after receiving the second dose are eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine as the booster dose. Accordingly, eligible persons have the opportunity to receive the Pfizer vaccine from today at any vaccine centre.

The majority of COVID-19 cases reported recently are those who have not been vaccinated and most of them are youngsters, according to health officials. Vaccination is mandatory to minimize the number of covid-19 patients in intensive care as well as to reduce mortality rate. The President gave instructions to educate the youth in this regard and then to take steps to provide the vaccine as soon as possible.

Legal advice has been sought with regard to preventing those who have not obtained the vaccine from entering public places. Taking this into consideration, the Special Committee on COVID-19 Control decided to make the vaccination card mandatory when entering public places in the future.

The approval has been received 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. Accordingly, the President instructed to devise plans in collaboration with the Ministry of Education to immediately provide the vaccine. The arrival of foreign tourists has increased. The Airlines have increased the number of flights. The President also instructed to further relax the restrictions imposed on tourism, taking into account the development of the tourism sector.