Once the immunity of the entire population has reached a certain level, there is no need to be afraid of any variant of Covid coming to the country and the only way to get out of this epidemic is to get the population up to the relevant level by vaccination, says Ms. Neelika Malawige, Professor of Virology at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
The professor also stressed that the existing Delta variant may be gradually changing during the Covid epidemic and new variants may emerge.
Whatever the new strain, vaccination is the only solution, she said during a special program jointly organized by the Ministry of Mass Media and Information and the Sri Lanka Broadcasters’ Association on several television channels yesterday (19) entitled ‘Wasangathaya Nimawee Wasanthaya Enawa Saththai’.
The professor said that it was not known whether there was a big difference between the existing Delta variety in Sri Lanka and the varieties in other countries, adding that minor variations occur in varieties in each country and that new varieties emerge later as each variant is gradually adapted.
She recalled that the world was plagued by the influenza virus in 1918 and 1919, which claimed more lives than the First and Second World Wars and killed about 50 million.
For this purpose, although there are current variants of the influenza virus that have been immunized naturally and through vaccination, the variants of the influenza virus have changed from year to year and people around the world have contracted the virus. Prof. Neelika Malavige emphasized that the situation in 1918 and 1919 was no longer the case and that it was due to the fact that people had become immune to the influenza virus.
She also said that in the West, people are being vaccinated every year for influenza and those with complications.
