COLOMBO : Sri Lanka will start the COVID vaccination program for children aged between 12 – 15 years starting from January 07 Friday.
Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella announced the plans to roll out COVID jabs for children in the aforementioned age group in a tweet posted in his official account this afternoon.
According to official figures, the country has administered the first dose to more than 15.9 million people so far, and this translates to 98 percent of the population eligible for COVID vaccination (over 16).
Meanwhile, 85 percent of Sri Lanka’s population aged 16 years and above has also been fully vaccinated against the virus.
As the country moves to completely vaccinate its entire population, inoculations targeting children aged 16 – 19 years of age, children aged 12 and above with co-morbidities and the 20 – 29-year age group were conducted simultaneously over the past few months.
Sri Lanka commenced vaccinating schoolchildren of the 16 – 19 age group on October 22, 2021 and the students in this age group were administered only one dose of the Pfizer vaccine.