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Health officials yesterday stated that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be administered as a booster or third dose to certain persons.
According to Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardena, the booster shot will be administered to persons over the age of 60 who received the Sinopharm and AstraZeneca vaccines, persons in the 30 to 60 age group with chronic illnesses, persons with low immunity due to cancer and kidney diseases, and health and frontline workers.
“A booster dose will be administered six months after the administration of the first two doses,” Dr. Gunawardena said.
It was previously stated that 14 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine had been secured for the booster shot and an order would be placed for the required number of doses following a decision by the Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases (ACCD).
At present, 14,471,052 persons have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 11,700,763 persons have received the second dose as well.
On Tuesday, 72,293 persons received a COVID-19 vaccine dose.
This includes 28,770 persons who received the first dose of Sinopharm and 19,171 persons who received the second dose. In total, the first dose of Sinopharm has been administered to 11,591,970 persons and the second dose has been administered to 9,242,154 persons.
The first dose of AstraZeneca has been administered to 1,463,410 persons and the second dose has been administered to 1,251,974 persons. On Tuesday, 5,119 persons received the first dose of AstraZeneca and 17,648 persons received the second dose.
The first dose of Pfizer was administered to 1,491 persons on Tuesday and 42 persons received the second dose. A total of 460,956 persons have received the first dose of Pfizer, of which 291,547 persons have received the second dose as well.
The first dose of Moderna has been administered to 795,627 persons and the second dose of the vaccine has been administered to 759,717 persons. On Tuesday, 32 persons received the first dose of Moderna and 20 persons received the second dose of the vaccine.
The Epidemiology Unit states that 159,089 persons have received the first dose of Sputnik V and 155,371 persons have received the second dose of Sputnik V.