At no point in 2020 was Sri Lanka’s health infrastructure at risk of being overwhelmed. Indeed by April 2020, the Global Response to Infectious Disease (GRID) Index by CMA Australia ranked Sri Lanka’s pandemic response as the 9th best in the world. Vaccine Procurement: Too Little, Too LateDespite these evidently sub-optimal decisions, Sri Lanka still had every opportunity to get ahead of the global curve. Another point to consider: why did the Government not diversify its risk on vaccine procurement; was there an over-reliance on the Serum Institute of India and Covishield? Vaccine procurement and pricing aside, were necessary investments made to expand ‘test-trace-isolate’ facilities?

Source: The Nation September 06, 2021 00:22 UTC