The administration of the second dose of the China-manufactured COVID-19 vaccine Sinopharm commenced this morning (June 08) as per scheduled.

The first dose of the Sinopharm vaccine was administered to 19,567 persons yesterday while the total number of individuals who had received the first dose so far is 989,574.

Chief Medical Officer of the Colombo Municipal Council Dr. Ruwan Wijayamuni said that nearly 90,000 residents of Colombo have been given the first dose of the Sinopharm.

He said, “Those who received their first dose on May 09 can receive their second dose tomorrow [June 09], and those who received it [first dose of vaccine] on May 10, can receive it day after tomorrow, , at the same place where you took the first dose.

You will receive an SMS informing you of the location and the time. If for some reason you do not receive the SMS, you can go to the center on the day you received the first dose on your card. If you miss it [on the assigned date] over an urgent matter, we will assign you another day.”

Meanwhile, the second dose of the AstraZeneca (Covishield) vaccine was given to 487 people yesterday.

A total of 353,789 persons have received the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The country’s inoculation drive against the pandemic commenced in 12 more districts today.

Accordingly, vaccination programs will be carried out in Matale, Nuwara Eliya, Kegalle, Trincomalee, Hambantota, Badulla, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Puttalam, Ampara, Batticaloa, and Moneragala districts.

Meanwhile, the health sector has decided to administer the Sinopharm vaccine to pregnant women.

Thereby, the relevant process will commence from the Piliyandala Medical Officer of Health (MOH) Division tomorrow (June 09).

Dr. Hemantha Herath, Deputy Director-General of Public Health Services at the Ministry of Health, stated that an investigation will be carried out into any irregularities in the administration of the remaining, limited AstraZeneca (Covishield) vaccine doses.