Another stock of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Sri Lanka today.
The consignment consisting of 26,000 doses of the vaccine arrived in the country early this morning.
Sri Lanka received its first stock of 26,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine on 5th July 2021.
The vaccine was initially set to be administered as the second dose to those who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine as the first jab.
However, despite some being provided the vaccine, the plan was halted after the Government assured that Sri Lanka was set to receive more doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine soon.
Thereafter, the Government announced that the Pfizer vaccine will be provided to two select groups from the public.
Army Commander General Shavendra Silva said it will be provided to nearly 1000 students travelling overseas for higher education, as some countries were not permitting entry to those who had obtained other Covid vaccines, such as Sinopharm.
He added that the vaccine will also be provided to fishermen from the Mannar area as they are at risk of coming into contact with fishermen from South India, where the Delta variant of the COVID-19 originated.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka, yesterday received two million doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by China.
The 2 million Sinopharm vaccine doses that arrived in the country yesterday will be administered from today.
The Government said 500,000 doses will be provided to the Gampaha District, 300,000 doses to the Kalutara District, and 200,000 doses each to the Colombo and Kurunegala Districts. (NewsWire)