Two million doses of Sinopharm vaccine arrive in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has received 2 million more doses of Sinopharm vaccines from China, says the State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Prof. Channa Jayasumana.

Two flights chartered by the national carrier SriLankan Airlines carrying the vaccine consignment touched down at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) at around 5.30 am today (July 22).

The new batch of vaccines, purchased by the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC) brings the total amount of Sinopharm jabs received by Sri Lanka to 9.1 million.

According to the state minister 400,000 of these coronavirus jabs will be rolled out in the Kurunegala District.

The remaining vaccines will be administered as follows:
• 275,000 in Galle District
• 200,000 each in Matara, Badulla and Ratnapura districts
• 100,000 each in Puttalam, Polonnaruwa, Monaragala, Nuwara-Eliya, Ampara and Batticaloa districts
• 125,000 in Hambantota District

Meanwhile, the Director-General of Health Services, Dr. Asela Gunawardena stated that Sri Lanka is expected to receive two more batches of Sinopharm and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines on the 26th of July.

Since the arrival of the first batch of 600,000 Sinopharm doses in late March this year, Sri Lanka has ramped up its national vaccination drive.

The National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) approved the emergency use of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in the country on March 20. Sri Lanka then received a donation of 500,000 doses of the China-manufactured vaccine on May 26.

Upon the receipt of 2 million more Sinopharm shots on the 6th and 9th of June, the inoculation program was extended to 12 more districts apart from Colombo.

Subsequently, three more batches of the China-made vaccine reached the island on the 2nd, 4th and 10th of July, containing 4 million doses.

Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine, also known as BBIBP-CorV, is produced by China National Biotec Group (CNBG) – a subsidiary of China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation (SINOPHARM).