COLOMBO, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) has assured that a qualified vaccine can be made available for Sri Lanka by March, the local Daily Mirror reported on Wednesday.
During high-level discussions held in Colombo on Tuesday, the Sri Lankan government informed the WHO that it had begun to improve cold chain requirements for the storage of doses ahead of inoculation.
Sri Lanka is primarily getting ready for a vaccine to be stored at a temperature of 2-8 degrees Celsius. However, a senior medical official quoted in the report said the cold storage facilities would be improved at hospital levels to accommodate vaccines required to be kept at minus level temperature if the need arises.
Sri Lanka is presently discussing whether to import the Pfizer vaccine from the United States, Oxford-AstraZeneca from Britain or Sputnik V vaccine from Russia, army chief and head of the National Operation Center for Prevention of COVID-19 Gen. Shavendra Silva said.
Lalith Weeratunga, senior advisor to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was assigned to oversee the coordination process of importing the vaccine, said the government is also studying the Sinovac vaccine which is manufactured in China.
The WHO has agreed to provide about 4.2 million vaccines to Sri Lanka to inoculate about 20 percent of Sri Lanka's population, according to the Sri Lankan Health authorities.
Sri Lanka is facing a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and has recorded 42,063 COVID-19 cases and 195 deaths. Enditem
