•  Approval would be given in two or three days’ time for emergency use of China’s Sinopharm vaccine 

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who had a zoom discussion with Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom said it transpired at the meeting that approval would be given in two or three days’ time for emergency use of China’s Sinopharm vaccine.   

After the meeting, the President tweeted that Sri Lanka will commence vaccinating people with the present stock of 600,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine once WHO approval is given.   Also, he expressed optimism that the WHO Director General would make an effort to fulfil Sri Lanka’s requirement of 600,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine required for administration of the second dose.   The President tweeted that Dr. Tedros commended Sri Lanka’s control of the pandemic during the first wave and expressed hope that the current surge would be brought under control soon.   

• Dr. Tedros commended Sri Lanka’s control of the pandemic during the first wave and expressed hope that the current surge would be brought under control soon