Colombo: Sri Lanka on Sunday received the first batch of 264,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines supplied under the World Health Organization’s COVAX facility, an official said.
COVAX is the global initiative to ensure fast and fair access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries, regardless of income level.
The first group of the coronavirus vaccines from the COVAX plant arrived in Sri Lanka on Sunday, the Prime Minister of COVID prevention, Dr Sudarshini Fernando said.
‘Today we received 264,000 doses COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX facility to the Ministry of Health, ”he said.
The United Nations International Emergency Fund for Children (UNICEF) delivered the first shipment of 264,000 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine delivered to Sri Lanka under the World Health Organization’s COVAX Institution.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, Covishield, was developed in collaboration with Serum Institute of India (SII).
The Pune-based vaccine has partnered with Oxford University and AstraZeneca to produce the vaccine.
The dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca from COVAX is for the most vulnerable people over the age of 60 in the most at-risk areas affected by COVID-19.
The first shipment of 264,000 COVAX vaccines was delivered via UNICEF via Emirates Sky Cargo, one of the top ten airlines to sign agreements under UNICEF’s Humanitarian Air Cargo Initiative.
UNICEF Colombo said the procurement and delivery of these vaccines by the COVAX facility supports the Ministry of Health’s National Implementation and Vaccination Plan (MOH) and that it will provide critical vaccination support to 20 percent of the population.
As part of the agreement between the Ministry of Health and the COVAX facility, the provision of the 1.44 million doses will be obtained in phases until May 2021, subject to the availability of manufacturers and authorization by the WTO list for emergency use ( EUL), the UNICEF said.
Chief Epidemiologist Dr Sudath Samaraweera said the Western Province, where the capital Colombo is located, had been selected as the focus area for vaccination.
“The Western Province was where most of the cases came from and where the spread took place,” he said.
India has 500,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that kicked off the vaccination of Sri Lanka at the end of January. The vaccines were given to the frontline workers and the security personnel.
India is one of the world’s largest drug manufacturers and increasing number of countries have already approached it for purchases coronavirus vaccines.
In January, India announced that it would send COVID-19 vaccines that aid Sri Lanka and seven other countries – Bhutan, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles, Afghanistan and Mauritius.
Sri Lanka has scored more than 85,000 coronavirus cases so far with 493 deaths.
Source: Telangana Today