National COVID-19 Vaccination Task Force Chairman and Principal Advisor to the President Lalith Weeratunga yesterday said confirmed that no decision has been made to buy the contentious COVID vaccine Sinovac. 

“I must clearly say Sri Lanka has not decided to purchase Sinovac although the WHO has approved it as a vaccine that can be used,” Weeratunga said in response to a question from the Daily FT yesterday at the first ever media briefing by the spokesman for the President Kingsley Rathnayake after opening the Presidential Media Centre.  He said very soon COVAX initiative will also begin distributing Sinovac but Sri Lanka hasn’t decided on it. “So don’t have any misgivings about it,” he added. 

He was responding to media reports as well as Opposition allegations that the Government was about to place an order for 13 million doses of Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine at $ 15 each. 

There is no available data on Sinovac’s efficacy against new variants whilst three doctors from the eight-member Expert Advisory team have resigned disregard of their counsel. 

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