(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –Another 500,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine donated by China arrived in Sri Lanka last night.
SriLankan Cargo flight UL 869 carried 500,000 Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine doses and 502,400 syringes to Sri Lanka from the Beijing International Airport in China arriving at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) at midnight Tuesday.
This is the second stock of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine donated to Sri Lanka by China. Earlier 600,000 jabs of the vaccine were delivered on March 31.
Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong officially handed over the vaccine consignment to Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake. State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Prof. Channa Jayasumana also joined the event.
Ministers Namal Rajapaksa, Prasanna Ranatunga, and D.V. Chanaka were also present at the airport to receive the vaccine consignment.
Taking to Twitter, both the President and the Prime Minister thanks the government of China for making Sri Lanka’s vaccination drive a success.
“I will ensure a strong vaccination drive for all and in addition to the 600K doses of Sinopharm vaccines donated previously, another 500,000 doses arrived to BIA this morning. Thank you! Government of China and Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka for the assistance in our drive against the pandemic,” President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said in a Twitter post.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said “On behalf of the Government of Sri Lank and the people of Sri Lanka I’m grateful for the friendship shared with China. In addition to 600,000 doses of Sinopharm previously donated, another 500,000 arrived in Sri Lanka. Thankful for the continued support by China in making the vaccination drive in Sri Lanka a success.”
Speaking to media, State Minister of Production, Supply, and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals, Prof. Channa Jayasumana also thanked the government of China for the biggest donation of COVID-19 vaccines to Sri Lanka. “Around 1.1 million vaccines were provided to Sri Lanka by the Chinese government. This is a huge assistance to our country,” he said.
The State Minister said the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) has placed a purchase order for another batch of the Sinopharm vaccine and 2 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine are expected to arrive in Sri Lanka within the 2nd week of June.
