The immunity is built up only after taking the second dose of inactive vaccines such as Sinopharm and Sinovac, says State Minister of Production, Supply, and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Prof. Channa Jayasumana.

Thereby, those who have received the first dose of the Sinopharm vaccine must definitely receive the second dose as well, he said.

The State Minister said, “Chinese Sinopharm company has informed us that another one million doses of the vaccine will be received by Sri Lanka within the next week. Then we will expand the vaccine drive to another 12 districts.”

Meanwhile, one million doses of China-made Sinopharm vaccines purchased by Sri Lanka were brought to the island this morning (June 06).

Prof. Jayasumana stated that this was the first consignment of Sinopharm doses stocks ordered by the Sri Lanka government.

Sri Lanka has received a total of 2.1 million Sinopharm jabs so far. This includes the 1.1 million doses donated by China on two previous occasions.

As per Prof. Jayasumana, another million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine are due next week.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka received 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine as Indian aid while another 500,000 doses were purchased by the Sri Lanka government.

Another 264,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were donated to Sri Lanka under the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVAX facility.

Thereby, the total number of AstraZeneca jabs brought to the island is 1,264,000.

In addition, the government has also purchased 65,000 doses of Sputnik V on two occasions while another 65,000 doses are due to arrive next week.

Accordingly, the total number of COVID-19 vaccines that have been obtained by Sri Lanka so far is 3,329,000.

Sri Lanka has administered 1,920,801 persons with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines. Only 353,894 persons have received their second dose so far.

Meanwhile, it has been planned to notify the recipients of the first dose of Sinopharm within the limits of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) regarding their second dose via a text message.

Epidemiologist of CMC Dr. Dinuka Guruge, explained, “The second dose of the Sinopharm vaccine will be administered within the Colombo Municipal Council area from June 08.

Those who are unable to go to the place where the vaccination was given the first dose can come to the vaccination center at the Sugathadasa Stadium premises and receive the vaccine on the relevant day. The relevant text message can be expected within a day or two from today.”