A Sri Lankan schoolhouse pupil receives a COVID-19 vaccine successful Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Oct. 15, 2021. Sri Lanka is vaccinating 18- and 19-year-olds against the coronavirus arsenic it expands the shots to students. After opening with older people, Sri Lanka has present vaccinated 57% of its 22 cardinal population. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

A Sri Lankan schoolhouse pupil receives a COVID-19 vaccine successful Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Oct. 15, 2021. Sri Lanka is vaccinating 18- and 19-year-olds against the coronavirus arsenic it expands the shots to students. After opening with older people, Sri Lanka has present vaccinated 57% of its 22 cardinal population. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena) (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

COLOMBO – Sri Lanka connected Saturday announced plans to connection booster shots to front-line workers followed by the aged arsenic the land federation gears up to further easiness COVID-19 restrictions.

Starting Nov. 1, workers successful the health, security, airdrome and tourism sectors volition commencement receiving a 3rd dose of vaccine, said Channa Jayasumana, the authorities curate of pharmaceutical production, proviso and regulation.

The Pfizer booster shots volition past see those supra 60 years, helium said.

So far, 59% of the 22 cardinal colonisation person been vaccinated, and the Health Ministry expects the complaint to emergence to 70% wrong 3 weeks.

The booster rollout comes up of the government’s plans to assistance monthslong question restrictions betwixt provinces connected Nov. 1. The authorities has besides announced that bid work that has been halted for astir 2 months would restart adjacent week.

Sri Lanka lifted a six-week lockdown connected Oct. 1 and since then, beingness has begun returning to mean with the reopening of cinemas, restaurants and wedding parties arsenic COVID-19 regular cases fell to beneath 1,000 with little than 50 deaths.

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However, a prohibition connected nationalist gatherings continues on with immoderate restrictions connected nationalist transport.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.