Another consignment of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Sri Lanka today (July 04), says State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Prof. Channa Jayasumana.

A special flight chartered by SriLankan Airlines – UL 869 – from Beijing has touched down at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake early this morning, with 1 million doses of the China-made jab.

The vaccine consignment was delivered to Sri Lanka as a part of the purchase order placed by the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) to boost the country’s inoculation drive. This is the fourth batch of Sinopharm vaccine Sri Lanka purchase from China.

Sri Lanka ramped up coronavirus vaccinations upon the receipt of 2 million more Sinopharm shots in early June. This enabled the extension of national inoculation drive to 12 more districts and the administration of Sinopharm vaccine’s second dose.

Sri Lanka has received a total of 5.1 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 then 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).