COVID-19: Sinopharm jab to Sri Lankans starting today (08)

COLOMBO (News 1st): The administration of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine to Sri Lankans will commence at the Panadura MOH Office on Saturday afternoon (May 08), the State Ministry of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals said. "We hope to begin the administration of the Sinopharm vaccine manufactured in China, to Sri Lankans starting from 2:30 pm this afternoon (08) at the office of the Panadura Medical Officer of Health (MOH) in the Kalutara district," Prof. Channa Jayasumana, the State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals told News 1st. Sri Lanka has received 600,000 doses of the Sinopharm jab; one individual should be inoculated with two doses of the jab within a gap of 03 weeks, Prof. Channa Jayasumana noted. "This means we have adequate doses of the Sinopharm jab to be administered to 300,000 people," he added. The World Health Organization on Friday (May 07) approved the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, the first Chinese jab to receive the WHO's green light, reported foreign media. The administration of the Sinopharm COVID-19 jab to Sri Lankans commences, whilst the administration of the second dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVISHIELD jab manufactured in India is also ongoing. The vaccination drive to administer the second dose of the AstraZeneca jab began on the 27th of April 2021, and so far 190,210 people have received the second dose of the jab. According to the Epidemiology Unit at the Ministry of Health, the inoculation of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVISHIELD jab commenced on 29th January 2021 and 929,776 people have so far received at least one dose of the vaccine. The Sputnik-V COVID-19 jab manufactured in Russia is also being administered to the residents of the Gothatuwa MOH area; 1669 people have received the first dose of Sputnik-V, the Ministry of Health said. [playlist tracklist="false" artists="false" images="false" ids="567536"]