The Minister said this at the cabinet decision media briefing held today (11) at the Department of Government Information.

While reminding the fact that although there was an agreement to purchase the AstraZeneca vaccine, with the prevailing situation in India, the suspension of the export of the vaccine from India has caused a problem for nearly 600,000 Sri Lankans to obtain the second dose, the Minister assured that based on the information received regarding the excess AstraZeneca vaccines in Indonesia and several African countries, the discussions are underway to obtain them from those countries.

He also mentioned that the President would discuss the matter with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the government will make arrangements to purchase the vaccine from a country that produces it and that it is likely to be available within the next month.

He further added that according to experts, there will not be any issue in getting the first dose from one vaccine and the second dose from another vaccine and Sri Lankan specialists will soon make a final decision in this regard.

As the Minister affirmed, according to experts, these vaccines are new, so the views regarding them are constantly updated, there is no problem regarding the time period between the vaccination of two doses.