Lanka looks at sources outside India for vaccine

Colombo, May 1

Sri Lanka is looking at sources other than India to purchase the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in view of delay in securing the vaccines from the Serum Institute of India, the health authorities said on Saturday.

“The supply is being delayed from India. We have to understand that India has to look after its own people before supplying to us. It is not that they have said no to us,” Gen Shavendra Silva, chief of the Covid prevention operations, told reporters. Silva said presidential adviser Lalith Weeratunga was looking at other country sources to buy the vaccines.

Sri Lanka was left with only 3,00,000 jabs of India-manufactured Covishield when it started rolling out the second jab. It began administering the second dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on Wednesday after assurances from Pune-based Serum Institute that it would send more consignments of the vaccine soon. — PTI