Sri Lanka begins vaccinating 20-30 yrs age group

Sri Lanka has begun vaccinating 20-somethings as it nears full vaccination of older people and struggles with a surge of delta variant infections.

The health ministry says 3.7 million people are in the 20-30 age group and they plan to complete their inoculation before the end of October.

Nearly 14.6 million of Sri Lanka's 22 million people are older than 30 and will be fully vaccinated this month.

Sri Lanka has expedited the inoculation drive as the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths are surging. Doctors and trade unions have warned that hospitals and morgues are reaching their maximum capacities.

The island nation imposed its most recent lockdown on Aug. 20 and it will run through Monday.

Sri Lanka has confirmed 444,130 infections and 9,400 deaths since the coronavirus pandemic began.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)