By Saman Indrajith

The JVP yesterday said that the Covid vaccination drive was doomed to fail owing to the government’s inefficiency and political interference.

JVP Propaganda Secretary MP Vijitha Herath, addressing the media, at the party headquarters, said that the government had not made timely decisions to launch the vaccine rollout. “There is a vaccination crisis. The government could not place orders in time for the vaccines. Even countries much poorer than Sri Lanka have done better. Morocco obtained its stock by Jan 21. Myanmar had purchased 3.7 million vaccines, Bangladesh purchased seven million vaccines. They were among the first countries to place orders with vaccine producing companies. Some ministers said that the government would vaccinate half of the population by the end of May.

MP Herath said that if the government had made right decisions at the right time and implemented them, the present crisis could have been averted. The Indian Foreign Minister visited the country on Jan 5 to 7 and stated that his country was willing to accommodate Sri Lanka on priority list to give vaccines. However, at that time the Medical Research Institute had not given approval for the vaccines from any country. “So we missed the bus.”

It was on Jan 22 the approval was granted for AstraZeneca vaccine. But the government placed the orders much later. If the government had done so in January, there would not have been any crisis situation now. Even the vaccines that had been procured were not given to people properly. They were given to people who carried chits from politicians. Political leaders of various levels were messing up with the inoculation process.

“During the first round of inoculation 600,000 doses were given to people but the government did not stock enough doses for booster shots. People in Colombo who had their first dose gathered at the Abhyaramaya temple even overlooking health regulations. Finally, the monks there too admit that the government’s vaccination drive was a failure.

“It is heartening to see that in some places health officials openly disregarded the chits and requests of favours by politicians. We should appreciate their courage and be proud of the fact that we still have brave health workers with backbone to stand against the unjust.”