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AstraZeneca vaccines: Jabs from Japan due this week   

24 Jul 2021

  • 1 m out of 1.45 m doses expected 
  • Around 600,000 persons awaiting 2nd dose 
  • Immunity declines due to delay in 2nd dose: Dr. Fernando 
By Aazam Ameen  One million of the 1.45 million Japanese-manufactured doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, which the Government of Japan pledged to Sri Lanka through the COVAX Facility of the World Health Organisation (WHO), are expected to arrive in the country this week, The Sunday Morning learnt.  Production, Supply, and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals State Ministry Secretary Dr. S.K. Rathnayake confirmed to The Sunday Morning earlier that Sri Lanka’s portion of the AstraZeneca vaccines are still being manufactured in Japan and would arrive this week.   Meanwhile, Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Asela Gunawardena communicated the same to the media.   He also noted that approximately 600,000 people who were inoculated with the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine are yet to receive their second dose.  However, Dr. Gunawardena also stated that because the country is expecting over a million doses of the same from Japan, the issue will soon be rectified.  In anticipation of the arrival of the AstraZeneca consignment, Colombo Mayor Rosy Senanayake said on Friday (23) that residents of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) will get their second dose of AstraZeneca this week. Senanayake told the media that the Chief Medical Officer of Colombo City is expected to liaise with the Government to obtain the required vaccines.  Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Association of Medical Specialists (AMS) President Dr. Lakkumar Fernando said: “Even though it is said that after taking the first dose, a person will have immunity from Covid-19 for up to six months, the longer one waits to obtain the second dose, the immunity will decrease. If one has to wait for a long time to get the second dose and if they were to come into contact with an infected person, they may contract the disease. Severe disease can also occur if the person has been inoculated with only one dose,” he explained.  Given the unavailability of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, rolling out the first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to people above the age of 55 years in the CMC area who received the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine as the first dose, began on 7 July 2021.   However, it was decided to halt the administration of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, as the second dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine was available from 8 July.   National Operations Centre for Prevention of Covid-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO) Head Gen. Shavendra Silva said the decision had been taken, as a total of 1.4 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine were expected to arrive in Sri Lanka by the third week of this month (July).  Despite The Sunday Morning’s repeated attempts to contact State Minister of Production, Supply, and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Prof. Channa Jayasumana and State Pharmaceuticals Corporation of Sri Lanka (SPC) General Manager Dinusha Dassanayake for additional comments, they proved to be futile.   


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