The consignment was flown as part of the total contribution of more than 1.4 million doses provided by Japan through the COVAX's dose sharing, said UNICEF in a statement. The Health Ministry says part of the doses will be used to give the second doses.

This is the third consignment of COVID vaccines received by Sri Lanka under the COVAX Facility. The first delivery was 264,000 doses of AstraZeneca in March, followed by 1.5 million Moderna vaccines in July.

The country has been facing a shortage more than 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine after the producer in the neighbouring India failed to deliver the promised shots because of the surge of the virus in India.

Sri Lanka has registered 306,662 cases and 4,380 deaths.