LNP – China donates 1.6 million more Sinopharm vaccines to Sri Lanka

The government of China has donated 1.6 million more doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine to Sri Lanka to boost the national inoculation drive.

A special cargo flight chartered by SriLankan Airlines, UL865, touched down at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake earlier today, carrying the first batch of this donation.

In the meantime, a second flight is scheduled to arrive from Beijing at around 10.00 am today, with the remaining doses of the consignment.

This is reportedly the largest amount of coronavirus vaccines the Chinese government has donated to Sri Lanka on a single occasion.

The new development brings the total number of Sinopharm vaccines China has donated to Sri Lanka to 2.7 million.

After the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) approved the emergency use of Sinopharm vaccine in the country in March, Sri Lanka received the first donation of 500,000 doses of the China-manufactured vaccine on May 26.

Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine, also known as BBIBP-CorV, is produced by China National Biotec Group (CNBG) – a subsidiary of China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation (SINOPHARM).