Govt. to spend over Rs.10 bn on COVID-19 vaccines
View(s):The government is to purchase 18 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines which will cost in the region of Rs. 10 billion at the rate of US$ 3 per vaccine (over Rs. 575), a senior Finance Ministry official said adding that other overheads and charges for transportation etc will add up to several billions.
According to the vaccination plan, these vaccines will be administered free of charge, he said. Of this total, nine million vaccines will come from the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVISHIELD product.
He noted that the head of the Presidential Task Force for Sri Lanka’s COVID- 19 vaccination task force and senior Presidential advisor Lalith Weeratunga had informed that there was a requirement of purchasing nine million COVISHIELD vaccines as soon as possible.
Sri Lanka will receive eight million doses of a WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX facility, the first batch of which should arrive in mid-February, he divulged.
India has already donated 500,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s COVISHIELD vaccine and 300,000 doses of the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm will be imported soon.
A request has also been made to Russia for its Sputnik V vaccine. (BS)