The Southern Province Health Services Director has been instructed by the court to provide a list of names of those from the Western Province who had received the 2nd dose of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine in Galle.
Galle Chief Magistrate Harshana Kekunawela further instructed the Director of the Southern Expressway to provide all details, including CCTV footage of the vehicles that had entered the Galle District via the Pinnaduwa exit on the said date.
The Director of the Southern Expressway has been ordered to provide the details to the Criminal Investigations Department office in the Galle Division.
Ada Derana had reported that over 100 vehicles from the Western Province were reported to have travelled to the Galle District on 07th June, to obtain the 2nd dose of the AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine.
The vaccine was provided via a vaccination drive that had been organized at the Office of the District Director of Health Services in Unawatuna, Galle.
The residents, among whom a majority were from Colombo, had travelled to Galle at a time when an islandwide travel restriction had been imposed in the country due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Health Ministry had launched a probe into the incident, with State Minister Channa Jayasumana informing Parliament that legal action will be taken against those found to have organized this vaccination programme.
Thereafter, the Galle District Health Services Director and Regional Epidemiology Head were transferred on charges of violating quarantine regulations and vaccinating people from outside the Galle District. (NewsWire)