Thursday Nov 28, 2024
Thursday Nov 28, 2024
Wednesday, 24 February 2021 00:26 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Cabinet yesterday approved $ 52.5 million for Sri Lanka’s vaccine purchases from India.
Co-Cabinet Spokesperson Dr. Ramesh Pathirana said approval has been granted to obtain COVID-19 vaccine through two methods. One was a purchase of 10 million doses worth $ 52.5 from the Serum Institute of India and the other was a direct supply from the UK manufacturer of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
The State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) will be making the purchase on the country’s behalf.
Dr. Pathirana also denied that the Government was allowing preferential treatment and appealed for the public to be patient. He insisted that the Government was dedicated to immunising 14 million Sri Lankans over the next few months and would make every effort to reach that goal.
“When different people make appeals for vaccine priority then we have to listen because all these requests have legitimate reasons behind them. But we are doing our best to provide vaccines as efficiently as possible and there will be no issues for already vaccinated people to get their second dose. There will be sufficient vaccines in the country to meet second dose requirements,” Dr. Pathirana said.
Cabinet spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said both President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had obtained the AstraZeneca vaccine already.
