Numbers are also increasing in the North Western and Southern provinces, he said.

"A majority of Kandy residents got Modern, but there is a percentage that still hasn’t got their second dose,” he sa...

The A.30 lineage is presently not spreading on a global scale and is almost extinct, he said.

"The plan is to control the spread no matter what the variant. I think we have been successful in that."

The last week of October saw 5,002 cases reported in Sri Lanka, indicating a 12.2 percent increase, the SLMA said.

Health workers, military, airport, port workers and tourist sector

Some countries do not require vaccines and other countries requesting mandatory vaccination do not reject Sinopharm.

48-percent with Sinopharm

Third does for elderly as 7-pct of do not develop anti-bodies after Sinopharm

Travellers must also be able to provide a vaccination certificate from a national or state-level public health body