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Tuesday, 13 July 2021 02:23 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Sri Lanka received its second batch of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses, with 26,000 doses reaching the island yesterday.
The first batch of 26,000 vaccine doses arrived on 5 July. Shipments of 60,000 doses and 90,000 doses are expected in the third and fourth weeks of July respectively. A total of five million doses of the vaccine are expected by the end of the year.
As of Sunday, 18,348 persons in Sri Lanka had received the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
In addition to Pfizer, the AstraZeneca, Sputnik V and Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines are also being administered through the country’s COVID-19 immunisation program.
At present, Sinopharm remains the vaccine administered to the highest number of persons, with the first dose administered to 2,940,706 persons and the second dose administered to 1,046,840 persons. This includes 107,927 persons vaccinated on Sunday, of which 84,559 persons received the first dose and 23,368 persons received the second dose.
The Sputnik V first dose was administered to 10,649 persons on Sunday, raising the number of persons to receive the first dose to 125,444. The Epidemiology Unit states that 14,464 persons have received the second dose of Sputnik V.
Twenty-two persons received the second dose of AstraZeneca on Sunday. At present, the first dose of the vaccine has been administered to 925,242 persons and the second dose to 385,669 persons.
In total, 4,009,740 persons have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 1,446,973 persons have received both doses.
According to Health Promotion Bureau Director Dr. Ranjith Batuwanthudawa, 60% of Colombo District residents over the age of 30 have been vaccinated.
Meanwhile, persons over the age of 30 in the Western Province can now register for the COVID-19 vaccination program via the citizen registration portal developed by the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) at vaccine.covid19.gov.lk.