Sri Lanka will procure 10 million doses of Covishield from the Serum Institute of India through a direct commercial contract, reported Colombopage. 

The Sri Lankan Cabinet has approved a cabinet paper allowing the State Pharmaceutical Corporation of Sri Lanka to purchase 10 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India for $ 52.5 million.

The government also approved the plan to enter into an agreement with the British AstraZeneca Corporation to purchase 3.5 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

The government has planned to vaccinate a total of 14 million people. Earlier, India gifted one million doses of Covishield to Sri Lanka under grant assistance. The country is also expected to receive 1.91 million doses of Covishield through the WHO’s Covax facility. 

China also gifted 300,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines to Sri Lanka. The vaccination drive is currently underway in Sri Lanka.