COLOMBO, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Three more new patients infected with the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 had been detected in Sri Lanka, raising the total number of infections to seven in the country, the Health Ministry announced Thursday.
COVID-19 coordinator, who is also director of technical services of the Ministry of Health, Anwar Hamdani said that among the latest detections was a Sri Lankan national while the other two were foreign nationals.
Jude Jayamaha, consultant virologist of the Medical Research Institute, told journalists that two of the patients had arrived from Sudan while the other patient was a returnee from Tanzania.
The Health Ministry said Omicron cases could increase in the future and thus raised the importance of receiving the vaccine booster doses without further delay.
According to official figures from the Health Ministry, nearly 63 percent of the total population have been fully vaccinated with Sinopharm, the leading vaccine administered, followed by AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, and Sputnik V.
Presently all those above the age of 20 years are being administered a booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine, in order to boost the immunity due to concerns over the Omicron variant. Enditem