• State Minister Prof. Channa Jayasumana says vaccination in 12 additional districts, including administration of second dose, will start tomorrow
• Gen. Shavendra Silva says 1-2 m doses more expected monthly
• By Saturday, 1.94 m persons had received first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine

By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya

A consignment of one million doses of Sinopharm commercially purchased by Sri Lanka arrived yesterday.

The country previously received 1.1 million doses of Sinopharm in the form of a donation from China and is expecting another one million doses on 9 June, which would cover two million of the 13 million doses of Sinopharm the country has ordered.

“The State Pharmaceutical Corporation purchased these vaccines and the Sinopharm Group has informed us that an additional one million doses will be provided this week. We will then be able to expand the vaccination program to 12 more districts in a week,” State Minister of Pharmaceutical Production, Supply and Regulation Prof. Channa Jayasumana said.

He added that the administration of the second dose of Sinopharm will commence on 8 June. Prof. Jayasumana stressed the importance of getting the second dose of Sinopharm as immunity is developed with both doses of the inactivated virus vaccine.

The National Operations Centre for the Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) Head Gen. Shavendra Silva explained that vaccination in 12 additional districts will start tomorrow. He added that while vaccination will begin in high-risk Grama Niladhari Divisions, priority will be given to persons over the age of 60, pregnant women with health complications, essential public services and public officers, and persons in the apparel and manufacturing sectors.

In addition to this, the 50,000 doses of Sputnik V expected next week will be used to carry out the vaccination program in the Kandy District, where 50,000 Sputnik V doses previously received are in use.

The first batch of 15,000 doses of Sputnik V the country received was used in Gothatuwa and Colombo.

The Sinopharm vaccines the country has received have been used in the Western Province, and Kurunegala, Ratnapura, Jaffna, Galle and Matara Districts, with doses set aside to administer the second dose.

Gen. Shavendra Silva added that between two and three million doses of Sinopharm are expected each month, which would further strengthen the country’s COVID-19 immunisation program.

By Saturday, 1,943,708 persons had received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 355,591 persons had received the second dose as well. This includes the 1,697 persons who received the second dose of AstraZeneca and 22,907 persons who received the first dose of Sinopharm on Saturday.

The Epidemiology Unit states that 925,242 persons have received the first dose of AstraZeneca and 353,156 persons have received the second dose as well.

The first dose of Sinopharm has been administered to 953,480 persons, and the first dose of Sputnik V has been administered to 64,986 persons.

B’desh media says no vaccine deal yet, quotes Chinese officials