Much awaited AstraZeneca vaccines arrive in the country

A batch of 728,000 AstraZeneca doses from Japan arrived in the country today evening. This is the first batch from a total of 1.4 million doses donated by Japan to the COVAX facility.

The Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka Sugiyama Akira noted that “as a long standing friend of Sri Lanka, it is our great honour to provide through COVAX approximately 1.45 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured in Japan to further bolster the vaccination programme in Sri Lanka to ensure equitable access to vaccines for people in need across the country.”

“Today, over 728,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to Sri Lanka out of a total contribution of over 1.4 million doses provided by the Government of Japan through the COVAX’s dose sharing mechanism. This is the third COVAX allocation to Sri Lanka, all being entirely donor-funded, with no cost to the country,” UNICEF Sri Lanka said.

Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Foreign Affairs Minister Dinesh Gunewardena, State Minister Prof. Channa Jayasumana and representatives from UNICEF, Sri Lanka and the Embassy of Japan were present at the Bandaranaike International Airport to accept the vaccines.