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Thursday, 10 June 2021 01:41 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Japan’s response to a request for 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was positive, the President’s Media Division (PMD) yesterday said.
According to a statement issued by the PMD, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had made a request for the required doses to meet the AstraZeneca shortage the country is facing, to which Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga had responded positively.
This was revealed during a discussion held between President Rajapaksa and Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka Sugiyama Akira yesterday.
At present, 925,242 persons have received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine but only 353,789 persons have received the second dose. The country is facing a shortage of 600,000 doses.
According to the Epidemiology Unit, 466 persons received the second dose of AstraZeneca on Tuesday, along with 166 persons who received the second dose of the Sinopharm vaccine. Administration of the second dose of Sinopharm commenced on Tuesday.
The first dose of the vaccine was administered to 43,454 persons on Tuesday and a total of 1,033,028 persons have received the first dose of Sinopharm.
The first dose of Sputnik V has been administered to 64,986 persons.
The Epidemiology Unit states that the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to 2,023,256 persons and the second dose has been administered to 353,955.