Sri Lanka will kick off 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 on his official account this afternoon.
Beginning Friday (07/01), the #Covid19SL vaccine will be available for children between the ages of 12-15. I hope the #lka public seizes this opportunity & aids us in our fight against the pandemic.
— Keheliya Rambukwella (@Keheliya_R) January 5, 2022
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.
