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‘Don’t buy our vaccines from private sellers’

28 May 2021

  • AstraZeneca Singapore (Pvt.) Ltd. tells GoSL to refuse counterfeits

  • Health Ministry assures won’t obtain unlawfully

By Dinitha Rathnayake   In a letter to the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC), AstraZeneca Singapore (Pvt.) Ltd. has claimed that numerous private traders and companies have been approaching the Government of Sri Lanka to sell Covid-19 vaccines purportedly from AstraZeneca, and warned that these are likely to be counterfeit and should be refused. “AstraZeneca has learned that numerous private traders and companies have been approaching the Government in Sri Lanka to sell Covid-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca. The company therefore wishes to inform that AstraZeneca’s current focus is on delivering substantial global commitments to Governments and international health organisations as quickly as possible to help end the pandemic. As such, there is currently no private sector supply, sale, or distribution of the vaccine. If a trader or company other than AstraZeneca offers private vaccines, it is likely to be counterfeit and should therefore be refused, and reported to the relevant authorities,” the letter sent by the company under the title of authorised regional representatives for AstraZeneca stated.   The letter, dated 18 May, goes on to state that currently only the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX), the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the Serum Institute of India (SII) are the designated partners to make the vaccine available in Sri Lanka. The letter has been signed by AstraZeneca Asia Area Associate Director of Government Affairs Jasper Meyns. The Oxford AstraZeneca Covishield anti-Covid-19 vaccine is manufactured by the SII. Owing to the pandemic situation in India, the Institute has temporarily halted exports despite an order placed by Sri Lanka prior to the enforcement of the ban. Therefore, in view of the delay in securing the vaccines from the Institute, Sri Lanka has had to look to other sources, and therefore, the Sri Lankan authorities are presently in negotiations with foreign Governments and also looking at open markets to purchase stocks of Covishield for the purpose of the administration of the second dose to those who received the first dose of the same vaccine.   When contacted for the Government’s response, the Ministry of Health emphasised that it would not seek to obtain such through unlawful or illegal means. “I got to know that several traders are willing to provide the said vaccine stocks obtained from different countries, at a very high price. It is not the Sri Lankan Government but the traders who are the ones who are approaching the Government, so how can we prevent that?” Deputy Director General of Public Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath told The Morning whilst speaking in reference to the letter. Despite several attempts by The Morning, SPC Chairman Dr. Prasanna Gunasena was not available for comment. Sri Lanka launched its Covid-19 vaccination programme in late January after receiving 500,000 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine from India as a gifted donation. Subsequently, Sri Lanka placed orders with the Serum Institute for more doses of the Covishield vaccine. However, the vaccination drive was affected when the Institute suspended the vaccine supply due to a spike in the number of Coronavirus cases in India. Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath Samaraweera earlier said that Sri Lanka is also considering a mix-and-match approach to the second dose roll out, if there are positive results in the experiments currently underway in this regard in other countries. However, as of yet, the relevant Lankan authorities have expressly advised to refrain from vaccine mix-and-match.  


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