Sri Lanka had approved the purchase of 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine (Representational)
Colombo:
Sri Lanka has suspended the COVID-19 vaccine from China Sinopharm and will use the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine made in India to inoculate 14 million people, a government spokesman said.
According to Cabinet co-spokesperson Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine has not yet completed phase 3 clinical trials, the Daily Mirror reported.
Dr. Pathirana further said that the complete dossier regarding the Chinese vaccine registration has not yet been received.
Dr Ramesh Pathirana said that Sri Lanka will rely primarily on the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India.
“For the time being, we should opt for the AstraZeneca vaccine. The moment we receive the full documentation from the Chinese manufacturer, we may consider registering it,” Pathirana said, citing the Daily Mirror.
However, he said that registering the Sinopharm vaccine can take time, as the World Health Organization (WHO) has not yet approved it. “It is still under review,” he said.
The official added that even the Russian Sputnik V vaccine has yet to be approved, so Sri Lanka may be forced to rely on AstraZeneca to inoculate all 14 million people, the Daily Mirror reported.
Sri Lanka’s cabinet had approved the purchase of 10 million doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine “ Made in India ” from IBS for USD 52.5 million, local media reported.
Sri Lanka is not the only country that has expressed concern about the lack of information on vaccines made in China. Previously, it was reported that the Sri Lankan authorities will begin vaccinating the general public against COVID-19 starting next month.
In January, the Sinovac vaccine was found to be much less effective than the vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, according to a statement from the Brazilian government.
The efficacy of the Chinese-made vaccine was also found to be 50.38 percent in late-stage trials from Brazil.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
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