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Vaccination of those under 18: Sobitha Thera urges caution

Published

4 years ago

2021/09/16

Ven. Omalpe Sobitha thera recently said that there was no scientific consensus about vaccinating children against COVID-19, and Sri Lankan children should not be used as guinea pigs. The Thera made this statement addressing a press conference organised by the Collective to Minimise COVID deaths.

The Thera said that they did not oppose the government’s decision to reopen schools. However, steps should be taken to enhance the natural immunity of children and certain tools and practices of indigenous medicines, too, could be used for the purpose, he said.

“We must all think long-term given the impact of this crisis. However, I don’t think that those in power are taking a long-term view of the crisis. I spoke to Prof. Tissa Vitharana about the pandemic and he is our most authoritative virologist. I also spoke to Dr. Channa de Silva who is Chest Physician and a Paediatrician· They all think that we must not vaccinate children hurriedly,” the thera said.

The Thera d that added the WHO was of the opinion that COVID-19 vaccines were safe for those above 18 years and that children and adolescents tended to have milder disease, compared to adults, so unless they were part of a group at higher risk of severe COVID-19, it was less urgent to vaccinate them than older people, those with chronic health conditions, and health workers.

“As we know the vaccine only reduces the severity of the disease and deaths. There is also research that there are some serious side-effects of the new mRNA vaccines. Surf the Internet and there is a lot of information from reliable sources. So, why are we in such a hurry to vaccinate our children?” the Thera asked.

The Thera also criticised the statement made by Dr. Harsha Atapattu, urging women to postpone pregnancy. All nations in the world are facing the pandemic and not a single senior doctor who holds a key position has made such a request, the Thera said.

“It seems that the doctors and officials in charge of the pandemic response are just blurting out things that come to their mind. They are not thinking rationally or scientifically. Meanwhile, intelligent and thoughtful doctors and officials have been sidelined. Real experts are silent or have just stopped offering advice. This is why we should be wary of this sudden desire to vaccinate children with Pfizer.”said.

The Thera said that some researchers were worried about administering the mRNA vaccines to pregnant mothers because they worry the fetus might be affected. Given that many tests were underway that would give us better answers about vaccinating children. Since children and adolescents were less affected by the virus, Sri Lanka should wait until the world had a clear answer about the vaccines. In the meantime, the government should take steps to boost the immunity of children and establish protocols that limit the chance of the spread of the virus, he said.

“Renowned experts on vaccines and genetics claim that we must first carry out research about vaccines before giving them to kids. The University of Sri Jayewardenepura has done excellent research. Why doesn’t the government ask them to research this? Why hasn’t the government looked at the tools to boost immunity of Sinhala medicine? Just because a vaccine has been given in the US, we must rush to the conclusion that it works here,” he said.

The Thera said that the government should promote food supplements produced by indigenous medical practitioners to boost immunity. There were a number of associations who were working on this regionally.

Dr. Udara Sampath Gunawardane, who also spoke at the press conference, said that most Medical Specialists had not commented on vaccinating children. Long years were needed when recommending vaccines and medications for pregnant women and children, he said. “While the body composition of adults over 25 are set for the most part, we must be wary of giving young people vaccines using spike proteins/ genetic material”, he said.

“In a week or so the government is planning to vaccinate those under 18. Have we conducted any study? If so, show us the report. Look at the side-effects of such a vaccine on children. Talk to authoritative experts on vaccines and genetics. They will tell you in private that mRNA vaccines should not be used on kids, but only Prof. Vitharana has said this in public. Authoritative experts on vaccines and genetics too have a responsibility to come out and tell the truth. We must not take these unnecessary risks.”

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French Navy Ship PROVENCE arrives in Port of Colombo

Published

4 hours ago

2025/03/17

Priyan

The French Navy Ship PROVENCE arrived at the Port of Colombo on a formal visit on Sunday (16 Mar 25) morning.

She was welcomed by the Sri Lanka Navy in compliance with the time-honoured naval traditions.

The 142.20m long Destroyer is Commanded by Captain Lionel SIEGFRIED and manned by a crew of 160 members.

During the stay in the island, crew members of PROVENCE will visit some tourist hotspots in the country and the ship is scheduled to depart the island on 20 Mar.

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Court of Appeal dismisses Ex-IGP’s writ petition

Published

5 hours ago

2025/03/17

Priyan

The Court of Appeal this [17] morning dismissed the writ petition filed by former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon, seeking an interim injunction to prevent the execution of the arrest order issued by the Matara Magistrate’s Court against him.

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Project to distribute smart boards for 1,000 schools with the goal of enhancing education has completely failed to meet its objectives and the investment of LKR 1.7 billion has been underutilized -PM

Published

8 hours ago

2025/03/17

Priyan

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the project to distribute smart boards for 1,000 schools with the goal of enhancing education has completely failed to meet its objectives and the investment of LKR 1.7 billion has been underutilized.

The Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya made these remarks in the Parliament complex on Saturday [March 15, 2025] while discussing the project to establish networked classrooms by facilitating smart boards to the school system.

The Cabinet Memorandum No. AMP/24/0385/601/027 and the Cabinet decision dated March 4, 2024 has been presented for the approval of the provision of digital smart boards and other related equipment to 1,000 selected schools, with the objective of enhancing education through the establishment of a systematic network of smart classrooms within the school system funded by the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRCSL).

Subsequently, an additional Cabinet Memorandum, No. AMP/24/0978/630/009, dated May 14, 2024, was presented, proposing the implementation of this project in alignment with the project proposed by Chinese government for digitalizing Schools. Under this Chinese-funded project, plans were made to establish a centralized control center and a studio facility, along with the provision of an additional 500 smart boards. Accordingly, the integration of both projects was proposed to create a network of smart classrooms across 1,500 schools.

The cabinet decision has been presented requiring Sri Lankan Government to purchase smart boards with specifications identical to the smart boards which were proposed to be distributed by the Chinese Government.

In line with the Cabinet decision of May 14, 2024, the procurement for the 1,000 smart boards began in July 2024. However, at the time of purchase, the project proposed by the Chinese Government was still at the discussion stage, and no official agreement had been reached regarding the technical specifications of the smart boards.

However, the procurement was carried out through the Sri Lanka State Trading (General) Corporation without a competitive bidding process, relying on price quotations obtained from a single supplier based on unclear sources that were not officially verified by the Chinese government. The Sri Lanka Telecommunications Regulatory Commission incurred the full cost of LKR 1.7 billion, with an additional LKR 430 million allocated for services and installation.

The aforementioned procurement appears to have been conducted at an unusually accelerated pace when compared to the standard procedure typically followed for high-value procurements. Specifically, price quotations were requested on July 5, 2024, opened on July 15, 2024, and by July 16, 2024, the Technical Evaluation Committee had completed and submitted the report. Subsequently, the report was reviewed by the Standing Procurement Committee appointed by the Cabinet on July 17 and 18, 2024, with recommendations being provided on the same day. These recommendations were then submitted to the Cabinet on July 23, 2024, and approval was granted on July 30, 2024. Followed by this, the purchase requisition was issued to the supplier on August 5, 2024. Accordingly, the entire procurement process was completed within a span of one month.

As part of this procurement, a Letter of Credit was opened to facilitate the payment of USD 3,135,392.50 for 1,000 smart boards to Intelligent Express Limited Hong Kong, which has been identified as a representative of Huawei. While the relevant Cabinet paper indicated Huawei as the designated manufacturer supplying the smart boards under the Chinese funding project, the Chinese government has not yet confirmed the selection of such a supplier for this project.

According to aforementioned purchase requisition, the purchased smart boards and related equipment were delivered to the Ministry of Education in October 2024 and are currently stored at Pattala Gedara Teacher’s Training College. Although the procurement of the aforementioned Smart boards by the Sri Lankan Government has been finalized, the relevant project, which was intended to be implemented under the funding of Chinese government, has not yet commenced and a final agreement regarding its implementation has not been reached.

Prior to reaching a final agreement on the network integration facilities and centralized system proposed by the Chinese government, the procurement of these smart boards has resulted in the inability to utilize the equipment for the intended purpose. It is expected that the Chinese aid project is at the discussion stage, and the implementation may extend until the end of this year. Further, no official decision has been made regarding the selection of a supplier for the project.

Given this situation, if the 1,000 smart boards and other equipment currently stored in warehouses are to be distributed to schools, school principals must be provided with clear instructions on their proper use. However, due to the delay in implementing the project under the funding of the Chinese government, specific guidelines on the installation and utilization of the equipment cannot yet be issued.

Since network integration cannot be carried out at this stage, these smart boards can only be used as standalone classroom units. As a result, the objectives of the project will not be met, and the investment of LKR 1.7 billion made might be considered to be underutilized.

A formal investigation has been initiated to determine whether financial and procedural irregularities have occurred in this procurement. Additionally, discussions are currently continued with the Chinese government, and efforts are being made to secure the proposed facilities from China at the earliest convenience.

[Prime Minister’s Media Division]