Lalith Weeratunga unveils plan for Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Sputnik vaccines
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from India by 11 am on Thursday and the vaccination process will commence from Friday.
This was stated by senior Presidential Advisor and Head of the newly-appointed presidential task force for Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 vaccination drive Lalith Weeratunga.
Weeratunga made the remarks at the media briefing on the Covid-19 vaccine held at the Government Information Department.
Following a request made by the Sri Lankan President from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India will be brought to Sri Lanka on Thursday and five lakhs of vaccines will be received for about 250,000 individuals.
The necessity of a COVID-19 vaccine has been widely discussed in Sri Lanka due to the negative impact of the pandemic on the socio-economic background of the country. Hence, the Government along with the assistance of the health sector carried out a huge task to receive the vaccine.
Weeratunga affirmed that the World Health Organization has given its approval to the said vaccine while the National Medicines Regulatory Authority of Sri Lanka has approved it as an emergency treatment for coronavirus.
Vaccines will be transported to cold storage of the health ministry and will be stored under storage facilities covering the 25 districts.
A priority list of vaccine recipients has been put forth and it includes frontline workers of the health sector, armed forces, police personnel, airport staff, and the aging population (60+).
He said the government is expecting a donation of 300,000 doses of the Chinese manufactured Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in the near future. The Russian Sputnik vaccine will also be brought to Sri Lanka as a donation.
Sri Lankan government has ordered two to 3 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from the manufacturer, Serum Institute of India, which is to be received in near future.