Sri Lanka to receive its largest vaccine donation from China this month

• The country has already received 7.1Mn doses of Sinopharm vaccines since March

• A further 2 million doses purchased by SPC will arrive in SL on July 22

BY JAMILA HUSAIN

Sri Lanka will receive its largest donation of COVID-19 vaccines this month after China has decided to grant 1.6 million Sinopharm doses to Sri Lanka’s Health Ministry, the Daily Mirror learns.

According to the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka, the Chinese government has decided to donate a stock of 1.6 million Sinopharm doses as China was encouraged with the progress of Sri Lanka’s national vaccination programme and the speed at which it was being carried out.

An official from the Embassy told Daily Mirror that around 300,000 doses of the Sinopahrm vaccines were already being administered daily across several provinces and no severe side effects had been reported. “china is proud to make contributions towards Sri Lanka’s vaccination programme. We believe this donation will help Sri Lanka further expand its achievement towards early recovery and social-economic normalcy from the pandemic,” an official from the Embassy said. “The donation will be handed over to Sri Lanka towards the end of this month,” the official added.

In addition to this grant, a further 2 million doses of Sinopharm will arrive in Sri Lanka on July 22, which is under a commercial purchase by the State Pharmaceutical Corporation while the Sinopharm manufacturers and SPC are negotiating for a further 2 million doses.

Sri Lanka has already received

7.1 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccines since March, and it is the main vaccine being administered in Sri Lanka presently.