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AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine: Difference in imported, inoculated doses

06 Jun 2021

  • Extra dose in each imported vial

  • Questions remain on fate of 11th dose

By Maheesha Mudugamuwa The Ministry of Health acknowledged last week that there was a difference between the number of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield Covid-19 vaccine doses they had brought down to Sri Lanka and the number of doses with which they had vaccinated the public so far. As of 3 June, according to statistics issued by the Epidemiology Unit of the Ministry of Health, a total of 1,276,200 doses have been administered among the public, including a total of 925,242 doses as the first dose and 350,958 as the second dose. However, the country has only brought down a total of 1,264,000 vaccine doses, and therefore, there is a difference of an extra 12,200 vaccine doses. This has raised concerns among the public as to whether the Government or any other private institution has imported vaccines secretly. Refuting the allegation, Deputy Director General of Public Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath told The Sunday Morning that the country had received a total of 126,400 vials of Covishield vaccines containing 1.26 million doses. “One vial contains 10 doses of 0.5 ml. But there’s an additional dose that had to be included in a vial in case of wastage and that means that we had an additional 126,400 doses. But not all of these doses can be used,” Dr. Herath explained, adding that since there was an additional dose remaining in a vial, in case one dose could be used, the Ministry of Health had issued a circular allowing the use of that remaining additional dose whenever possible. According to him, while the Ministry has not created 11 doses out of a single vial, instructions have been given to do so if it is possible. “That is how we got additional doses and the reason for the disparity,” Dr. Herath further added. As reported by The Sunday Morning, in February, nearly 9,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine had been wasted during the initial days of the vaccination, as there were no instructions given by the Ministry of Health to inoculate with the extra dose. Initially, the Ministry’s circular issued by Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardena on 28 January had recommended using only 10 doses, which is equivalent to 5 ml out of the 5.5 ml contained in a Covishield vial. The guidelines attached to the circular stated: “The vaccine in the form of multiple doses (10 doses of 5 ml) is stored at over 20 (degrees) Celsius (C) to over 80 (degrees) C (in order to protect from freezing and direct sunlight), and in ready-to-use, liquid, non-preservative. The shelf life is around six months upon production and the expiry date is available on the product label.” However, issuing a new circular on 15 February, Dr. Gunawardena had permitted administering another dose of the remaining liquid in the vial, if the remaining liquid after drawing the 10th dose is adequate for another dose. It is further stated that it is particularly important that the correct amount of 0.5 ml per dose should be carefully drawn for each dose without wasting the vaccine, and to therefore use the auto disable syringes provided for immunisation.


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