08th October 2021
Dear Students of UoC,
I do hope this email finds you and your family keeping well, having coped with the recent COVID19 wave caused by the contagious Delta variant.
The global scientific experience in tackling the virus is that mass vaccination – irrespective of the type of vaccine- is the way forward for us to learn and work during the ongoing pandemic.
We must all get the vaccination.
Our university was the first to arrange on-campus staff coverage with the Sinopharm vaccine – which we did successfully by mid-2021. In parallel the medical and nursing students received vaccination from the Health Ministry.
However, there was a lag period for all other groups of our students. Our student groups had to wait patiently, as priority was given to their elders, who were at greater risk.
The UGC authorities require every student to be vaccinated with both injections, for resumption of safe on-campus activities, at least 2 weeks following the 2nd injection.
Recent vaccination guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health approves Sinopharm as safe and effective for those younger than 30 years.
All universities will have a vaccination center giving Sinopharm exclusively for university students, where our UoC students living outside the western province can receive vaccination from the regional universities, on the dates specified.
There was concern among some university students that the Pfizer vaccine was granted selectively to those who aspire to go abroad and that Sinopharm is a less effective alternative. The Sri Lankan university-based studies on the antibody response on all available vaccines showed that the Sinopharm is no different in efficacy to the other vaccines.
So, we should not worry about the type of vaccine, as they are equally good.
The UoC rector, deans, director along with the Registrar and administrative officers, ably supported by the Senior Student Counsellor and colleagues, are working hard to try and ensure full vaccination coverage for our students through the good offices of our Chief University Medical Officer (UMO) and the Welfare Branch.
UoC will give the Sinopharm vaccine on 14th and 15th October 2021.
You would appreciate that this requires the UoC and all other regional university-based vaccination centres to have the exact numbers of students who require to be vaccinated.
Kindly cooperate and inform the Welfare Branch TODAY through your Faculty/Institute/Schools administration and obtain your vaccine next week.
We look forward to having you on campus as soon as possible!
Stay safe and help us attain 100% coverage.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Chandrika Wijeyaratne
Vice Chancellor