• Not possible to prevent the variant entering the country

By Ajith Siriwardana

Claiming that it was not possible to prevent the Omicron Covid variant entering the country, medical experts said yesterday the best way to face the new variant was to keep the immunity at a healthy stage by obtaining the COVID-19 vaccines at the earliest.  

The Director at Allergy, Immunology and Cell Biology Unit of the University of Sri Jayawardenepura Dr Chandima Jeewandara said it was vital for the eligible persons to obtain the booster dose as well to face the new variant. 
Speaking at a webinar at the Presidential Media Centre (PMC), he said even though data was not available at the moment on the transmissibility and vaccine efficacy of the new variant, keeping immunity of the people at a healthy rate was crucial. 

“Covid vaccines were discovered to face the Coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China. But, those vaccines were effective against other variants such as Delta emerged later on. We hope these vaccines will work against this new variant as well,” he said 

Prof. Neelika Malavige from the Department of Immunology and Molecular Sciences of the Sri Jayawardenapura University said the other countries in the world were preparing to face the new variant by administering the booster dose. 

“The health authorities in England have decided to administer booster doses to those above 18 after this new variant was reported. It is your responsibility to obtain the vaccine at the earliest,” she said. 

She said according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the new variant had started to spread some 30 days ago and that it had been reported in several countries.