Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines expected next month – Channa

Sri Lanka would receive 78,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccines in July, State Minister (Professor) Channa Jayasumana told journalists yesterday.

“In total, Sri Lanka will receive five million doses of the Pfizer vaccine,” he said.

State Minister Jayasumana also said that the World Health Organisation would provide 264,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in July.

“They will be given to those who received the first dose of AstraZeneca. We will also use the Pfizer vaccine as the second jab for those who received the first AstraZeneca jab,” he said.

Sri Lanka will also receive some Moderna doses via the US Global Vaccine Donation programme, Professor Jayasumana said. They, too, would be used on those who got the first dose of AstraZeneca.

Sri Lanka has administered the AstraZeneca jab on 952,242 persons, out of whom only 372,675 have received booster doses. (RK)