People in Mannar & Vavuniya districts to get remaining Pfizer vaccines: Prez

While stating that there is a comprehensive mechanism to vaccinate a majority of the population against COVID-19 virus before September, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said plans have been made to administer the Pfizer vaccine doses to the people in Mannar and Vavuniya Districts.

The Presiden said the Moderna vaccine which is to be received is planned to be administered in Kandy District.

“The number of vaccines that are being received in July will be made available to the public, giving priority to the districts identified as high-risk areas for Covid-19 spread," he said.

Accordingly, the President said that 200,000 doses out of the total two million Sinopharm vaccines to be received on July 11 should be allocated for the Colombo District, 500,000 for Gampaha and 300,000 for Kalutara in order to complete the vaccination of all persons over the age of 30 in the Western Province before the 30th of this month.

"A total of 100,000 vaccines each have been allocated for Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Anuradhapura, Nuwara Eliya, Ratnapura, Badulla and Matale Districts and two hundred thousand vaccines have been allocated for the Kurunegala District,"

It is expected to receive 1.47 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine within the next two weeks. Out of this, 600,000 doses will be allocated to the Colombo District for the people who have received the first dose. The President instructed that the balance should be given as the first and second doses for the people in the Kegalle District. 

The President made these remarks at the meeting with the Special Committee on Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak, held at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (09) regarding the vaccination drive and future plans.

It was decided to administer the future vaccine doses to arrive in the country in a scientific manner, taking into account the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Meanwhile, President Rajapaksa instructed that steps be taken to provide more space for resumption of economic activities as a significant percentage of doses have already been given to the people. 

It was also discussed the need to brief the foreign diplomatic missions in Sri Lanka on the local vaccination drive and the current situation in the country.