Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera today stated that the second jab of the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine would be administered to the public starting from the 19th of April. He stated this at a press conference held in Colombo today. Further, he stated that the stocks of Chinese Sinopharm vaccines is to be received on the 31st of this month. “We have more than 200,000 doses of ‘Covishield’ to start administering dose two for two weeks and we are hoping to receive more vaccine stocks during this period. The Advisory Committee has recommended that it should be given 10 to 12 weeks after the first dose. Week 10 will begin after 10 April. Due to the New Year holidays, it is highly likely that the rollout would commence on 19 April,” he told the Morning recently. The second dose would not need to be administered in the same order in which the first dose was administered provided the second dose is administered to the individual within the given time period. The Chief Epidemiologist said that the dose could be obtained at a convenient time depending on the rollout plan and the arrangement of the immunisation clinic. However, he added that if anyone fails to receive the second dose before week 12 ends, they should receive it as early as possible.