600,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses here on 31 March

 First consignment of Sinopharm vaccines expected by end-March

• Initial 300,000 doses doubled on President’s request
• State Minister says vaccine used in 33 countries with 75%-80% effectiveness
• Chinese Govt. giving vaccines as a donation
• But Opposition slams move, faults Govt. for allowing consignment without regulatory approval
• Insists Govt. has moral obligation to ensure same standard of vaccines procured for entire population
• Govt. says purchases of AstraZeneca will continue, next 500,000 doses expected by 31 May  

By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya

A donation of 600,000 doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine from the Government of China is expected to reach the country on 31 March, despite concerns from the main Opposition that the vaccines have not received approval from the local regulator. According to Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals State Minister Channa Jayasumana, the donation was initially to be 300,000 doses but discussions between the countries and a request made by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resulted in the number of doses being doubled. He also insisted the vaccine has proved to be safe and effective.

“Sinopharm is a vaccine manufactured in China that is currently in use in 33 countries. Data gathered thus far shows efficacy of 75% to 80%, which is similar to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The Chinese Government has informed us that 600,000 doses will be provided to the country as a donation,” Prof. Jayasumana said.

While the doses are expected on Wednesday, the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) is yet to approve the vaccine for emergency use in Sri Lanka. However, Samagi Jana Balawegaya parliamentarian Eran Wickramaratne yesterday charged that the Government was morally bound to import the same standard of vaccines for the entire country.

Reading out a letter issued by the regulator at a press conference Wickramaratne insisted that local medical experts were of the opinion that data shared by the Chinese institute was insufficient. “Even though the Government is clearly aware of the research gaps they are still moving forward with the imports. This is a problem. The Government has to ensure not only that the entire country is vaccinated but that the same standard of vaccines is made available to everyone.”

Wickramaratne slammed the Government for ensuring the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was one of the first COVID-19 jabs to be approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO), was made available to parliamentarians but not to the larger populace.  

Meanwhile State Minister Prof. Jayasumana also addressed concerns about AstraZeneca supplies, especially with the decision made by the Government of India to restrict exports in order to meet local demand.

“We spoke to the Government of India about this on a diplomatic level. They have informed us that they will supply 500,000 doses before 31 May as part of the quantity we have placed an order for,” he said, adding that this was because the country had followed the due procurement process and submission of documents.

According to Prof. Jayasumana, 400,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines have been set aside to administer the second dose between 11 April and 31 May, by which time more doses from India are expected to reach the island.

The State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) has also said it is planning to procure more AstraZeneca vaccines directly from the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and has already started proceedings towards this end. Sri Lanka needs as estimated 26 million doses on vaccines to inoculate its entire population.

Cabinet spokesman and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters this week that the Government plans to use Sputnik V to vaccinate people in central areas of the country and assured that additional stocks of AstraZeneca will be procured in a timely manner to meet the second dose needs to the population.