Government’s Vaccination Drive Ends

Dr Hemantha Herath, Deputy Director-General of Health Services, said 7 million Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines have been removed as per the existing health guidelines and will be destroyed, having reached their expiry date on 31 October — thus concluding the Health Ministry’s vaccination drive.

The doses are worth roughly USD 770 million, based on Pfizer Inc.’s price range. In Sri Lanka, the COVID-19 vaccines came in as international donations or were purchased through various loan mechanisms. 

In July 2022, Sri Lanka’s Health Ministry extended the expiry date of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines that had already been imported by three months on the recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) — this included 14 million vaccines bought and donated to the government. Out of this batch, as of 30 October, 8.3 million doses have been distributed among the population. 

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