Two million more doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine have arrived in Sri Lanka, says the State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals.
These jabs will be administered as the second dose for the recipients of the China-manufactured vaccine, Prof. Channa Jayasumana added.
Two special flights carrying the vaccine shipment touched down at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake this morning.
The National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) approved the emergency use of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in the country on March 20.
The first batch of 600,000 Sinopharm doses donated by China arrived in late March this year followed by another donation of 500,000 doses 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, in addition to Colombo. Subsequently, four more batches of the China-made vaccine reached the island on the 2nd, 4th, 10th and 22nd of July, containing 6 million doses.
On July 27, Sri Lanka received another shipment of 1.6 Sinopharm doses as a donation from the government of China.
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).
