• People over 60 who had been given the two doses of Sinopharm, and those with a weak immune system, be given a third dose, with AztraZeneca, Pfizer or Moderna vaccines
• Only a very small proportion of 7%, who had been given Sinopharm do not develop antibodies

By Sheain Fernandopulle 

While stressing the point that a minority of fully vaccinated people could get severe disease, and may even die, the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) requested the Government to consider giving a third dose to people whose immune system is weak despite being fully vaccinated. 

SLMA President Dr. Padma Gunaratne said studies from Bahrain had shown that those over 50 years, who had been given the Sinopharm vaccine, could escape death and severe disease compared to the unvaccinated.
"However this category of people have a slightly increased rate of death and hospitalisation compared to those who had received the Pfizer, Moderna, Sputnik and Astra Zeneca vaccines.

“Studies from the laboratory of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine, Sri Jayawardanapura University (SJPU) has also shown that, while almost all people over 60 years who had been given the AZ vaccine develop antibodies,  only a very small proportion of 7%, who had been given Sinopharm do not do so, in comparison to the above group” she explained. Dr Gunaratne also said that patients with certain diseases or on certain drugs (organ and stem cell (bone marrow) transplant recipients, patients with active cancer, those on immunosuppressive therapies and those on dialysis and advanced HIV who had a weak immune system, will not produce antibodies, from whatever the vaccine that they had received.

Thus, the SLMA proposed that people over 60 who had been given the two doses of Sinopharm, and those with a weak immune system, be given a third dose, with AztraZeneca, Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.