More Pfizer vaccines arrive in Sri Lanka

September 6, 2021 at 9:42 AM

Another 100,000 doses of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Sri Lanka today. 

The consignment, received under an order purchased by the State Pharmaceutical Corporation of Sri Lanka (SPC), arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake. 

Sri Lanka received a stock of 124,020 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on 30th August. 

The United States of America (USA) had also announced that it has donated more than 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to Sri Lanka via the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVAX Facility.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Army has been authorized to administer the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Sri Lanka. 

The decision had been taken after it was revealed that several people who are not qualified to obtain the Pfizer vaccine, including children below the age of 20, had received the vaccine in certain areas.

At present, the Pfizer vaccine has been approved only for those who are travelling overseas for education or employment, while it is also being administered in certain approved districts. 

However, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa recently announced that school children are likely to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as soon as approval is granted by the health authorities. (NewsWire)