Sri Lanka is not the first country in South Asia to receive the Pfizer vaccine, as claimed by the Government earlier today.
Maldives had received 5,850 doses of Pfizer vaccines sent by COVAX facility to support the COVID-19vaccination campaign on 25th of March.
More vaccines have arrived!
Maldives has received 5,850 doses of Pfizer vaccines sent by COVAX facility to support the #COVID19 vaccination campaign.@UNICEF is supporting Gov. of Maldives in public communication, supply, logistics & cold chain management for the vaccination. pic.twitter.com/zw4a8Dr3yT
— UNICEF Maldives (@UNICEFMaldives) March 25, 2021
The first consignment of 26,000 doses of the Pfizer – BioNTech vaccines arrived in Sri Lanka this morning.
The Government had thereafter claimed that the country became the first country in South Asia to receive a stock of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
However, social media users have pointed out that the Maldives had received a stock of the Pfizer vaccine ahead of Sri Lanka.
Commenting on the vaccine, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had also said he was proud of the work that is being done by the Government to ensure vaccines for all Sri Lankans.
Meanwhile, State Minister Channa Jayasumana said the doses were among a total of 200,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine ordered by the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC).
He added that the vaccine doses have been stored at the specialized storage facility at the National Blood Transfusion Centre in Narahenpita.
The vaccines are expected to be used on pregnant women as the 2nd dose for those who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine as the first jab.
The use of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines as the second jab for those vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, has been approved by the Health Ministry’s Advisory Committee. (NewsWire)
