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Sunday Dec 15, 2024
Thursday, 19 August 2021 00:25 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Government this week decided on two further steps to strengthen the country’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, as they sought to increase the import of vaccines and oxygen.
The Cabinet of Ministers, at its meeting on Tuesday, cleared a proposal to import 360,000 litres of liquid medicinal oxygen in addition to the previously approved 120,000 litres, as the demand for oxygen has escalated with the soaring COVID-19 cases.
The daily need of liquid medical oxygen is 44 tons according to the Health Ministry.
Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath yesterday said hospitals would have to limit the supply of oxygen, if the rising number of COVID-19 cases aren’t controlled.
“This is a very complex problem. If we don’t control the increasing number of patients, then we won’t be able to supply oxygen without limitations,” he added.
Separately, the Cabinet of Ministers also approved to purchase 23 million doses of COVID-19 jabs to vaccinate all citizens above 18 years by the end of next month. The order comprises of nine million doses of Sinopharm vaccines and 14 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.
The unit price of the vaccine will be decided by a Negotiating Committee appointed by the Cabinet for vaccine procurement.
Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals State Minister Prof. Channa Jayasumana this week said that 54% of the population had received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 21% had received both doses.
The Government said as of 9 August, Sri Lanka had received 19.49 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Of that, 11.26 million doses have been administered as the first dose and 3.25 million doses as the second dose, the Government Information Department added.
The Epidemiology Unit stated that the country’s COVID-19 immunisation program had administered the COVID-19 vaccine to 137,221 persons on Tuesday, raising the number of persons to receive the first dose of a vaccine to 11,963,739 and the number of persons to receive both doses to 4,956,288.
Among persons vaccinated on Tuesday were 21,685 persons who received the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine and 103,846 persons who received the second dose of Sinopharm. In total, the first dose of the vaccine has been administered to 9,478,735 persons and the second dose to 4,028,984 persons.
The first dose of AstraZeneca was administered to 7,712 persons on Tuesday while 237 persons received the second dose of the vaccine on Tuesday. The first dose of AstraZeneca has been administered to 1,307,782 persons and the second dose to 872,904 persons.
The Epidemiology Unit states that 210 persons received the first dose of Moderna on Tuesday, raising the number of persons to receive the first dose of the vaccine to 765,651.
On Tuesday, the first dose of Pfizer was administered to 116 persons and the second dose to 3,415 persons. In total, the first dose of the vaccine has been administered to 252,490 persons and the second dose has been administered to 39,883 persons.
The Sputnik V first dose has been administered to 159,081 persons and the second dose to 14,517 persons.
