Sri Lanka will ramp up the COVID-19 inoculation drive with 2 million more doses of Sinopharm vaccines scheduled to reach the island by the first week of July.

The forthcoming vaccine stock is part of a purchase order placed by the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC), State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Prof. Channa Jayasumana said.

Upon the receipt of two more shipments of Sinopharm vaccines containing a total of 2 million vials in early June, Sri Lanka extended the national inoculation drive to 12 more districts and commenced the administration of the second dose.

The Epidemiology Unit’s progress report on COVID-19 immunization showed that as many as 1,443,470 people have received the first dose of Sinopharm vaccines and 455,592 have been fully vaccinated with the China-made jab.

As per official data, Sri Lanka has received a total of 3.1 million Sinopharm vaccines so far since the arrival of the first batch of 600,000 doses in late March this year.

The National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) approved the emergency use of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in the country on March 20. Sri Lanka also received a donation of 500,000 doses of the China-manufactured vaccine on May 26.

Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine, also known as BBIBP-CorV, is produced by China National Biotec Group (CNBG) – a subsidiary of China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation (SINOPHARM).