The Government yesterday said the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine would not be changed locally despite its suspension in several European countries. 

Cabinet Co-Spokesman Dr. Ramesh Pathirana speaking at the weekly Cabinet briefing said that the stock of vaccines received by Sri Lanka fell into a different category from those used in the countries that had suspended the jab.

 He stressed there was no cause to suspend the vaccination process in Sri Lanka. 

“We are confident that the vaccine is safe to use. Sri Lanka received AstraZeneca vaccines from India and WHO, which have not shown any adverse reactions. Therefore the national inoculation program will continue. We expect to see the country recover from the pandemic and return to normalcy in the next few months,” he said.

Germany, France and Italy said on Monday they would suspend AstraZeneca COVID-19 shots after several countries reported possible serious side-effects, but the World Health Organization (WHO) said there was no proven link and people should not panic.

Germany, Italy, France suspend AstraZeneca shots amid safety fears