SL mulls making Covid vax cards mandatory

Sri Lankan Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that legal advice had been sought if Covid-19 vaccine cards could be made mandatory for people to visit public places across the island nation.

Speaking to legislators in Parliament, Rambukwella said that following discussions, the attorney general had informed him that legal procedures could be taken against those who had not been vaccinated with both doses if they visit the public places in the future, reports Xinhua news agency.

Rambukwella said the Health Ministry will introduce a mobile app to display whether both doses of the vaccine had been obtained and if not, people will not be allowed to enter public places.

According to the Ministry, over 60 per cent of Sri Lanka's total population had so far been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as a mass vaccination program, which began in January, is still underway.

The vaccines being administered are Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, and Sputnik V.

To date, Sri Lanka has reported 545,256 Covid-19 cases since March 2020 with 13,856 deaths - IANS