Calling the nations to support vaccination of lesser wealthy nations, Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Sunday said that the countries may have to close borders and impose restrictions if the existing vaccines are proved ineffective against the new Omicron variant.
The Sri Lankan President appealed the nations to support the vaccination in drive in poorer countries. “If the existing vaccines are ineffective to Omicron variant, then the world may soon return to closing borders and other restrictions. I, therefore, call upon nations to support the vaccination drive of less wealthy nations more effectively,” Rajapaksa said while speaking at Indian Ocean Conference 2021 in Dubai, ANI reported.
Rajapaksa also thanked India and other nations for donating vaccines to the country. “We’ve now vaccinated 85% population with both doses of COVID vaccine with 98 percent having received 1st dose. We greatly appreciate generosity of India, China, USA & Japan who donated vaccines to us directly or through COVAX,” he said.
India had donated 5 lakh Covid vaccines to Sri Lanka. Recently, while the nations were closing their borders to African countries, India stepped up and offered its support to the countries affected in Africa.
Africa is facing a tough challenge from the Omicron variant of the coronavirus as the vaccination rates in the country remains poor. On 1 October, the WHO reported that the overall figure for those fully vaccinated is only 4.4 percent, compared to the European Union which has seen around 62 percent of its population fully vaccinated. Africa today has only vaccinated around 7 percent of its population.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) expressed “solidarity” and said that it “stands ready” to support with supplies of ‘Made-in-India’ vaccines, other essential life-saving drugs and medical kits. “We have noted the emergence of a new variant of Covid-19, Omicron. We express our solidarity with the countries, particularly in Africa, who have so far been affected by the Omicron variant,” the MEA in a statement said.
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