36% of population receive first dose
As of now nearly 36 per cent of the country’s population has received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, Dr. Ranjith Batuwantudawa, Director, Health Promotion Bureau said yesterday.
He said that the second dose under the National Immunization Programme has been given to 13 per cent of the population and that Sri Lanka is one of the leading developing countries in the world in implementing the vaccination Programme against COVID-19.
He was speaking at a media briefing held at the Health Promotion Bureau yesterday (14).
Under the COVID-19 National Immunization Programme, 70 percent of the total population in the Colombo District has been given the first dose and 25 percent the second dose.
The first dose has been given to 56 per cent of the total population in the Gampaha District, the second dose to 21 per cent. The first dose of the vaccine has been given to 54 per cent of the total population in the Kalutara District and the second dose to 20 per cent.
He said that about six million doses of COVID-19 vaccines of all types (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Sinopharm) are expected to be received in the country in the next two to three weeks and the deaths and complications caused by COVID infection can be minimized due to the vaccination programme.
The Epidemiology Unit said that the highest number of vaccines given in a single day 337,445 was given on Tuesday (13).
The first dose has been given to 4,520,537 people in 156 days and the second dose has been given to 1,537,230 people.
Currently, there are four vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Sri Lanka, namely, AstraZeneca manufactured in India under the Covishield brand name, Sinopharm manufactured in China, Sputnik V manufactured in Russia and Pfizer/BioNTech manufactured in the United States. The US-manufactured Moderna vaccines too will be here soon.
A stock of AstraZeneca vaccines manufactured and donated by Japan will also arrive soon. Sri Lanka is also evaluating the Sinovac vaccine (China) for approval.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently announced that Sri Lanka is one of the leading countries in the world in implementing vaccination programmes. The country recently began inoculating teachers, FTZ workers and tourism workers using the China-made Sinopharm vaccine. The authorities are exploring the possibility of giving the vaccine to school children above 12 years to expedite the re-opening of schools throughout the country.
source http://www.dailynews.lk/2021/07/15/local/254035/36-population-receive-first-dose
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