June 23, Colombo: Prof. Channa Jayasumana, State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals said 78,000 doses of Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine will be delivered to Sri Lanka in the first three weeks of July at a rate of 26,000 doses per week.

State Minister Jayasumana said the country will receive 5 million doses of Pfizer vaccine by the end of this year.

About 560,000 people who received the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine are currently waiting for the second dose, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that 264,000 doses of the vaccine will be available through the Covax program, with another 300,000 doses of the Fizer vaccine needed. The Minister said measures will be taken to administer the Pfizer vaccine as the second dose to those who received the AstraZeneca vaccine as first dose.

He added that the World Health Organization (WHO) had approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine as the second dose, and it has been given in other countries including Canada, Germany and France.

Meanwhile, another 2 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine purchased by the State Pharmaceutical Corporation will be received in the first week of July, the Minister said.