A well being official receives a dose of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, at Infectious Illnesses Hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka January 29, 2021. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte
COLOMBO, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday ordered frontline employees and tourism employees to be given a 3rd booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine subsequent month, a part of a bid to reopen the journey trade and revive the economic system.
Greater than 1 million individuals together with safety personnel, well being care employees and tourism trade employees can be given third photographs of the Pfizer vaccine starting Nov. 1, the president’s workplace mentioned in an announcement.
To this point Sri Lanka has totally vaccinated a little bit over 60% of its 22 million individuals. The nation relies on worldwide tourism, and partially rolled again COVID-19 restrictions late final month, permitting totally vaccinated travellers with a unfavorable check to enter with out quarantine.
Earnings from tourism plummeted from $4.3 billion in 2018 to simply $33 million within the first eight months of this yr. Reviving the trade is seen as essential to restoring reserves which stood at simply $2.6 billion on the finish of September.
Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga mentioned there was robust curiosity from travellers from international locations resembling Russia, Britain, France and Germany, and that worldwide flights can be elevated from subsequent month.
“The goal is to have a robust winter season from November to March or April of subsequent yr,” he advised Reuters.
An estimated 400,000 individuals are employed within the tourism trade. Some journey limits, together with on trains between provinces, can be lifted solely from Nov. 1 because the authorities deal with lowering the dying charge from COVID-19 to zero.
Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe; Modifying by Sanjeev Miglani and Peter Graff
Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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