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Sunday Sep 22, 2024
Monday, 5 July 2021 03:40 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
A shipment of 26,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are due to arrive today, with another 26,000 doses expected next week.
According to Pharmaceutical Production, Supply and Regulation State Minister Prof. Channa Jayasumana, 60,000 doses of the vaccine will arrive during the third week of July and 90,000 doses of the vaccine will reach the island during the fourth week of July.
“The Health Ministry’s committee on infectious diseases has recommended using the Pfizer vaccine as the second dose for persons who received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. It has also been revealed that the Pfizer vaccine is safe for pregnant women and a request has been received to use the Pfizer vaccine to vaccinate pregnant women,” Prof. Jayasumana said.
Meanwhile, the Epidemiology Unit states that 63,704 persons were vaccinated on Saturday, with the country’s COVID-19 immunisation program further strengthened by the reception of one million doses of Sinopharm yesterday.
According to a tweet posted by the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka, two to four million doses of the vaccine are expected later this month. In total, Sri Lanka has received 5.1 million doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, including one million doses that arrived in the island on Friday.
In total, 1,911,208 persons have received the first dose of Sinopharm and 836,814 persons have received the second dose as well. This includes 34,915 persons who received the first dose and 28,071 persons who received the second dose on Saturday.
The second dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was administered to 718 persons on Saturday and 384,047 persons have received the second dose to date. The first dose has been administered to 925,242 persons.
The Epidemiology Unit adds that 114,795 persons have received the Sputnik V first dose and 14,427 persons have received the Sputnik V second dose.
The first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to 2,951,245 persons and the second dose to 1,235,288 persons.
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