Sri Lanka and Russia in talks as world’s first COVID-19 vaccine is found

August 12, 2020 at 7:37 PM

Sri Lanka and Russia have had talks ahead of Russia announcing it had discovered the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine.

The Foreign Ministry said that Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Russia Prof. M.D. Lamawansa visited the Moscow Clinical Centre for Infectious Deceases named after V.P. Demikhov in Voronovskoye, Moscow region in order to hand over 46 boxes of Ceylon tea as a token of appreciation from Sri Lanka to the medical staff combating COVID-19 and saving patients’ lives.

Ambassador Lamawansa, accompanied by Counsellor HOC Mohamed Anas, Second Secretary (Commercial) Chathurika Perera, Personal Assistant Olesya Romanova and Tea Promotion Assistant Anastasia Kovalenko, had meetings with Head of Voronovskoye branch of the Clinical Centre Dr. Nikolay Karpun, Deputy Head for technical support and construction Alexander Pestov, Chief Personnel Manager Angela Zabrodnaya, Chief anaesthetist and intensive care specialist Sergey Avdeykin.

Dr. Karpun noted the tight deadlines required for the construction of the Clinical hospital, purchasing proper medical equipment and training of the medical personnel brought together from 91 cities and regions of Russia so that the hospital could launch its work in an efficient manner.

During the meeting Dr. Karpun and Ambassador Lamawansa discussed the new wave of COVID expected and the role of vaccination in the virus control and prevention.

On behalf of the Government and people of Sri Lanka, Ambassador Lamawansa expressed his deepest respect and gratitude to all doctors and medical staff of the hospital for their tireless efforts in saving people’s lives in the context of the world’s pandemic.

The Head of Sri Lankan Mission highly appreciated Russia being the first country in the world to produce a vaccine against the new coronavirus.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the coronavirus vaccine, touted as the world’s first such vaccine. The registration of the vaccine lays ground for mass inoculation even as the final stages of clinical trials to test safety and efficacy continue.

The announcement came in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 20 million people and killed nearly 750,000 worldwide, thus, crippling world economies.

The first Russian vaccine against the coronavirus will begin to be produced at two sites – the Gamaleya Research Institute and the company Binnopharm. (Colombo Gazette)