Vaccination of pregnant mothers has been successfully continuing and the reports of testing pregnant mothers for the pandemic has drastically reduced, she said. Dr Chithramali de Silva was addressing a media briefing held at the Department of Government Information sept (27).
She further said that nearly 7000 pregnant mothers tested positive for the pandemic in this country and 55 out of them died of the disease, and all the deaths were reported after May this year. The significance of this tragedy is that none of the victims had received the two jabs. Such a large death toll of pregnant mothers reported for the first time in the country thereby increasing
the maternal mortality rate of the country.
Dr. Chithramali de Silva said that the Committee on Contagious Diseases has been constantly concerned about giving the COVID-19 vaccine to underage children. Comparing it to deaths among children, the Committee has identified most of the victims had suffered from chronicle diseases. Therefore children with such diseases were chosen to give the vaccine first.
Child vaccination began in Sri Lanka in 1961, and it is on top among the South Asian nations and the world as well. The child vaccination program was broaden since 1978, and children were
constantly kept under health supervision in order to give them necessary vaccines. The Communicable Disease Unit added new vaccines from time to time to help the country to keep the child diseases at bay. She further said, as a result, Sri Lanka was able to eradicate certain diseases from its soil.
Dr Chithramali de Silva added that the entire child community is protected when 90 per cent of children with congenital diseases are given the COVID-19 vaccine. Expressing her views about certain young people’s hesitance to receive the jab in fear of some serious side effects, specialist doctor de Silva pointed out that the COVID-19 vaccine has no relationship to sexual dysfunction or infertility.
She said however, doctors have been studying the post COVID complications of patients.
