Sri Lanka’s inoculation drive for COVID-19 will pick up pace as the first batch of the 800,000 Pfizer vaccine doses, financed by the World Bank (WB) arrived in the country earlier today.

The WB said it will deliver within this month the remaining of the 800,000 vaccine doses that are funded under its Sri Lanka COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Project.

A total of five million vaccines will be delivered to the country and is expected to be supplied by December 2021.

WB Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka Faris H. Hadad-Zervos in a statement to the media shared that the delivery of the first batch of vaccines reflects the joint work of the Sri Lankan government and its partners to ensure fair access to safe and effective vaccines for Sri Lankans.

The vaccines were procured through the procedure established in the loan agreement signed with the Government of Sri Lanka in May 2021, as well as the two criteria for the World Bank vaccine approval.

WB’s COVID-19 Emergency Response project in Sri Lanka, rolled out with a total of US$ 298.07 million, including US $80.5 million for vaccine support, has contributed to the island nation’s pandemic management and prevention efforts.

The WB shared that the expected project results include meeting short term emergency needs, including cash transfers for economically vulnerable populations, as well as long term strengthening of health systems for pandemic preparedness.