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Who will take responsibility for over 60s deaths?
Who will take responsibility for throwing out the ‘priority list’ where the elderly (over 60s) and young people with co-morbidities were the first on the community vaccination programme? Who will take responsibility for the deaths of the over-60s from COVID-19?
These are the questions being asked by experts, some of whom alleged that there seems to be a whiff of sabotage.
The Sunday Times learns that a request of the National Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases (NACCD) – the highest technical committee which drew up the priority list which is now in the wastepaper basket – made about 10 days ago for an urgent meeting has gone unheeded.
An analysis by the Sunday Times of COVID-19 deaths from February 1, 2021 reveals all:
February 1 to 28, 2021
- The number of deaths – 154
- The number of deaths of over-60s – 119 (77.3%).
- The number of deaths of over-60s in the Colombo district – 40 (33.6%); from Gampaha district – 24 (20.2%); and from Kalutara district – 13 (10.9%)
- Therefore, the deaths of over-60s in the Western Province alone are more than half, nearly 2/3rd of the total deaths
March 1 to 3, 2021
- The number of deaths – 13
- The number of death of over 60s – 13 (100%)
- The number of deaths of over-60s in the Colombo district – 6 (46.2%) and from the Gampaha district – 1 (7.7%)
- Once again, just for three days, the deaths of over-60s in the Colombo and Gampaha districts alone are more than half of the total deaths
The World Health Organization (WHO) is very clear about the ‘priority list’ for COVID-19 vaccinations recommended by its Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization.
- Stage I when there are ‘very limited doses’ of vaccines available for 1-10% of the national population – health workers at high to very high risk of acquiring and transmitting infection, followed by older adults defined by age-based risk, specific to the country or region. Age cut-off to be decided at the country level.
Currently, on a rough calculation, taking the population of over-30s in Sri Lanka as around 16.5 million and the vaccine doses available as 1.26 million, the percentage of vaccine doses available is ‘very limited’ at 7.6%.
So far, Sri Lanka has received 500,000 COVISHIELD vaccine doses from India as a donation and another 500,000 on payment. The first tranche of 264,000 free vaccine doses from the global vaccine initiative COVAX is expected this weekend.
- Stage II when there are ‘limited doses’ of vaccines available for 11-20% of the national population – older adults not covered in Stage I, then groups with co-morbidities or health states determined to be at significantly higher risk of severe disease or death.