By Yohan Perera   

Around 52 organisations including trade unions, media associations and 72 civil society members yesterday urged the government to give priority to vulnerable sections of the population in terms of vaccines, PCR tests and health measures as well as humanitarian support.  

“We, express serious concern about the escalating pandemic and continuing rights violations and deterioration of the rule of law” the organisations and civil society members said in a statement.   

“We regret the lack of clear prioritization and disorganized process to conduct vaccinations, the reduction of the number of PCR tests conducted that may artificially reduce the number of reported COVID-19 positive cases. It was also reported that healthcare workers have not been receiving adequate support. We are also concerned about the lack of action to vaccinate and conduct PCR tests for the most vulnerable groups in society” they said.   
All Ceylon Commercial and Industrial Workers Union, Alliance for Minorities, Centre for Environmental and Nature Studies (CENS), Ceylon Estates Staffs’Union (SESU), Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD), Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), Centre for Society and Religion (CSR),  Ceylon Mercantile Industrial & General Workers’ Union (CMU), Ceylon Teachers Union, Muslim Media Forum, Muslim Women’s Research and Action Forum, Sri Lanka Young Lawyers Association (SLYLA), Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association (SLWJA) and Sri Lanka Young Journalists’ Association were some of the signatories of the statement.