Sri Lanka is in discussion with India for procurement of two Covid-19 vaccines. The issue was also raised during the recent visit by Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to Sri Lanka. 

According to a report published on News 1st of Sri Lanka, Sudarshani Fernandpulle, Sri Lanka’s state minister for Covid-19 disease control, said they are holding discussions with India for Astra-Zenecca and Pfizer-BioNtech vaccines. 

Earlier, the Indian foreign minister said the country would consider giving vaccines to Sri Lanka on a priority basis. Sri Lanka authorities haven’t yet taken a final decision on the type of vaccines they wanted to import. 

Officials are considering the plan to utilize the cold storage facilities of Blood Banks as Pfizer vaccine requires a storage temp of -70 degree-celsius. Any vaccine without the approval of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority will not be imported, said Lalith Veeratunga, the head of the Presidential Task Forces on Deployment and Vaccination Plan for Covid-19. 

Other neighbors like Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, and Bangladesh are also in discussions with India for the procurement of Covid vaccines. Reports indicated Bangladesh is likely to be the first country to receive vaccines from India.