With the third wave of Covid-19 currently taking over Sri Lanka, and more and more variants being discovered in the country, it remains more important than ever for the public to get the anti-Covid-19 vaccinations. Unfortunately, in Sri Lanka, even if one wants to get the vaccination, they are left with questions of “how”, “when”, and “where”. The procedure to get your vaccine is in complete shambles; people are meant to stand in line for hours, with no social distancing, only to find out the authorities have run out of vaccines, or that they are not eligible for it. We spoke to a few individuals on their experience receiving the vaccine and how the procedure could be made better.
We asked National Institute of Infectious Diseases (IDH) consultant physician Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama his opinion on how the vaccination procedure is handled in Sri Lanka, and how he thinks we can improve the process. He began by stating that the vaccination programme in Sri Lanka, as deemed by the public, is failing. With regard to the long queues one has to stand in, it is clear that no social distancing is maintained, to which he commented that this itself will cause the spread of Covid and is bound to make the situation worse.
“We have a very good public healthcare network, and Sri Lanka is one of the countries that has performed immunisation very well. So, there is no reason that this vaccination programme should not happen properly, unless the plans made for this were not well thought out,” he observed, adding that if the process is not going smoothly, then the planning is not good.
“Generally, when we vaccinate people, it is not difficult to give the public information on when they are to receive their vaccines,” Dr. Wijewickrama further observed. He stated that making a clear-cut plan is important to make sure the general public is up to date and has all the necessary information they require to keep themselves safe from Covid.
We asked Dr. Wijewickrama if he had any suggestions on how we could keep the public informed, to which he said we need to take advantage of the media and other news entities to spread the word.
He stated that we need to question the relevant authorities on what their plans are to implement a streamlined procedure. “Just yesterday (12), I heard the State Minister announce that we are receiving another 500,000 vaccines, which raises the question of who will be receiving the vaccine next?”
The need for clarity
Certified parenting coach Yasodhara Pathanjali informed us that she had her first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine back in March in a family group of six, of which three people were in their 80s, two in their 50s, and herself in her 30s. She observed that one’s age correlated to the severity of side effects experienced – the younger the more side effects.
She commented that she had fever and general flu symptoms for about two days, and also had low energy and no appetite for a few more days. “Having suffered pneumonia twice before, though, I have to say I’d rather have bad side effects than experience the horrors of pneumonia again.”
Sharing her experience on the process of getting the vaccine, she said it was very stressful, chaotic, and very emotional. “Until we were in the queue with our vaccine cards, we were unsure if it’ll really happen. There was much misinformation and miscommunication between the Police and the grama niladhari.” Despite this, she also added that the nurses and vaccination staff were beyond amazing. “I cried so much afterwards. The stress and fear of Covid as a pneumonia sufferer for the last year had been immense and the relief was overwhelming,” she commented.
Giving us a more in-depth look at the vaccination procedure, she explained that the queue outside the centre was long and chaotic. “I think we waited outside for about two hours. My great aunt was taken inside immediately to sit down as she’s elderly, so that was a huge relief.” But once they were through the gate, the actual process was super efficient and fast, she said, adding: “My husband timed it at 11 minutes to the vaccination from when we entered the centre.”
Having gone through the process of getting vaccinated, we asked her if she had any suggestions on how it could be improved, to which she said: “Personally, I think there needs to be clarity on who is vaccine-eligible and who is not. Around the time we were vaccinated, there was so much confusion around age groups and the citizenship status in the media and then on the day, massive confusion about which addresses qualified.”
She elaborated that having a process in place that takes into consideration the heightened emotions of those wanting a vaccine would also really help, adding that when it comes to our health, we are all equally desperate to save ourselves and that is normal. Saying that, though, she commented that she is incredibly grateful to have had the vaccine. “The trials of getting it and the confusion and stress beforehand was all worth it.”
Now, she awaits with a ticking clock for the second dose. Sharing her feelings on this, she said, with her fingers crossed: “It’s quite stressful again, but there is a global shortage of the AstraZeneca vaccine, so it’s not something that is unique to Sri Lanka. I really hope the powers authorise the mixing of vaccines, as mandated elsewhere, and we get the second dose that way.”
An educational crisis about the vaccines
We spoke to activist and advocate Vraie Balthazaar on her experience getting her vaccine. “I received my first dose of AstraZeneca 10 weeks ago, and the recommended time to receive my second dose is this week, which obviously isn’t happening because they aren’t doing the second rollout at the moment, as the focus is currently on vaccinating as many people with the Chinese and Russian vaccines.”
Balthazaar observed that it is unfortunate that the Government has gone about managing the vaccination process, noting that prior to the vaccination rollout, they were quite resistant to go ahead with it. “We are currently dealing with the repercussions of a government that rejected the vaccine at first, saying it was unnecessary and informing the citizens that they were focusing on unnecessary means of locally sourced paniyas and so on.”
She commented that it isn’t about dealing with the present situation, but rather being accountable for the last six months, because while the rest of the world was preparing people for the vaccine and attempting to negotiate a large number of vaccines, Sri Lanka, on the other hand, was quite complacent in the thoughts that we didn’t need it. “Six months ago, ministers who made plenty of statements about how unnecessary it was for us to have a vaccine are now first in line,” she observed.
She stated that the second dose of AstraZeneca must be administered to those who have already taken the first dose, which is the only way the process will be successful. She also believes the general public needs to be educated on the Covid vaccines. “Their current understanding of the vaccines is problematic. I work in areas of Colombo and there is a fear of what the vaccinations may do and sometimes, these things do take a little bit of coaxing, but I think the Government hasn’t been very inviting to people and haven’t given them enough access and information on the vaccine and its benefits.”
To solve this issue, she suggested public campaigns with information available to everyone – there are thousands of people who flock to obtain a paniya but far fewer people lining up to get vaccinated – due to a severe lack of information. “There is an educational crisis on vaccines, and it is time the Government managed both the minds of the people and the sourcing of the products.”
Lack of communication hinders the process
Local author Andrew Fidel Fernando got his vaccination in Dehiwala back in March. He was informed that their grama niladhari division was giving out the vaccines the next few days, so he went down on a Sunday morning to get the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Fernando described his experience, informing us that there wasn’t really a line. “The wait time afterwards (once you receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, you are mandated to wait for 20 minutes) was longer than the lead up.” He added that he may have got lucky, as the next time he went past the place, there was a long queue of people.
Talking about his side effects, he said he only experienced muscle pains that went away in a few hours.
When asked if he experienced difficulty in finding out about the vaccine, he commented that in fact it was, adding: “It wasn’t clear when our division was getting it. There was a day before where I saw the lines, so I lined up and asked which area the vaccination was being administered to, to which I was told that it wasn’t my division. They weren’t even able to give me dates on when my area would receive the vaccine.” He noted that it would have been good to have some kind of document with the necessary information, because otherwise people don’t know when they need to go to receive it.
We asked Fernando if he had any ideas on how the procedure could be improved, to which he said that it circles around communication. “There could be a text message system, or an announcement system. Even a letter box drop or flyers handed out would be good, so people are in the loop.” With social media being such a commonly used system, spreading information to the public shouldn’t be this hard.
PHOTO LALITH PERERA
