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Health authorities urge booster before expiry in July

28 Mar 2022

By Buddhika Samaraweera  As the US-German-manufactured Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines that are currently available in the country are due to expire from July 2022, the health authorities have urged those who have not obtained the booster third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, to obtain it as soon as possible. Speaking to The Morning yesterday (27), Production, Supply, and Regulations of Pharmaceuticals State Ministry Secretary Dr. S.K. Rathnayake said: “There seems to be not much interest among the people to obtain the booster third dose these days. However, vaccines are given in every medical officer of health (MoH) division. If the people are encouraged, all the vaccines will be able to be given before they expire. We urge all those who have not yet received the booster vaccine dose to obtain it as soon as possible.” Health Ministry Co-ordinator in charge of Covid-19 and Director – Medical Technological Services Dr. Anver Hamdani had told the media that every drug and vaccine has its expiry dates and likewise, the current stock of Pfizer vaccines would expire in July. “There is still some hesitancy among the people to obtain the booster vaccine dose. However, the numbers have improved compared to where we were. The total number of those who have obtained the booster dose is nearing 55%, which needs to increase further,” he had stated. Production, Supply, and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals State Minister Prof. Channa Jayasumana said in December 2021 that if the people are not interested in obtaining the booster third dose before July of this year, there is a risk that the said vaccine doses imported to Sri Lanka will expire. “The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses that were imported to be administered as the booster third dose are due to expire from July 2022. Therefore, we hope that the people will obtain the booster third dose before then. Otherwise, there is a risk that the vaccines will expire,” he said. Sri Lanka is currently administering the Pfizer vaccine as the first, second, and booster third Covid-19 vaccine dose. According to the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry, the health sector, as of Saturday (26), has administered a total of 7,799,118 Pfizer vaccines as the booster third dose.


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