Sri Lanka hasn’t been able to secure a sufficient stock of AstraZeneca vaccines needed for booster doses in the Western Province.

Government sources told The Island that efforts were being made to obtain over 600,000 urgently needed AstraZeneca vaccine doses. The second dose should be provided between 12 to 16 weeks.

According to Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Washington Ravinatha Aryasinha, Sri Lanka requested US assistance in this regard in late April. The following is the text of the statement issued by the mission in Washington: “Ambassador to the USA Ravinatha Aryasinha today called on Overseas Sri Lankans (OSLs) and Friends of Sri Lanka in the US to contribute relief goods and make donations, in the face of the urgency resulting from the increasing number of COVID infected persons being detected in Sri Lanka and the challenges posed in treating them. In a communication addressed to the community, Ambassador Aryasinha said the immediate need is for ventilators, oxygen concentrators, high flow oxygen units, multi-parameter monitors, PPEs including N95 masks, telemedicine platforms which could be used by medical professionals in Sri Lanka.

Providing an update on the efforts being made to procure COVID-19 vaccines from the US, Ambassador Aryasinha said Sri Lanka’s urgent need for AstraZeneca vaccines had been well received by the US Government in late April, but the release of this vaccine to all countries in need will have to be preceded by authorization for its use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Following the announcement on Monday (17 May) that the US will also share already domestically authorized vaccines, he said Sri Lanka is seeking to secure Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccines through this modality. Additionally, the Embassy had also facilitated discussions between the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation and the J&J Regional Manager in India, with a view to enabling the purchase of these vaccines.”