COVID-19 vaccine: India, China await SL’s approval

By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan

India and China have approached the Government to offer the COVID-19 vaccines free of charge and are awaiting the regulatory board to approve it.

The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka stated, they were approached to supply the vaccine from the  neighbouring countries. The AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine has been dispatched free-of-charge to Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and the Seychelles yesterday (20). 

They are waiting for Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius for confirmation and regulatory clearance.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy in Colombo stated, they will also provide the Sinopharm vaccine as a grant to Sri Lanka, a Chinese Embassy official said.

He told Ceylon Today that they have administered the vaccine to more than 15 million persons as of yesterday (20) and so far the WHO has only approved the Pfizer vaccine. 

“All required documents will be provided by the Chinese biotech company. Except for the Pfizer vaccine, no other vaccines have been approved by the WHO,” he said.