A medical worker receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the National Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Jan. 29, 2021. Sri Lanka's health officials on Friday kicked off the country's first COVID-19 vaccination program by inoculating a senior consultant physician at the National Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) who has been in the front lines of the pandemic, local media reported. Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama was the first medical officer to receive the jab on Friday morning, which was monitored by hospital staff and government officials. A senior nurse at the IDH was the second to receive the jab while three military officers also received the jab at the Army Hospital in Colombo. The vaccination program is underway in six major hospitals in Sri Lanka where 250,000 health line workers will be vaccinated in the coming days. (Photo by A.Hapuarachchi/Xinhua)
COLOMBO, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's health officials on Friday kicked off the country's first COVID-19 vaccination program by inoculating a senior consultant physician at the National Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) who has been in the front lines of the pandemic, local media reported.
Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama was the first medical officer to receive the jab on Friday morning, which was monitored by hospital staff and government officials.
A senior nurse at the IDH was the second to receive the jab while three military officers also received the jab at the Army Hospital in Colombo.
The vaccination program is underway in six major hospitals in Sri Lanka where 250,000 health line workers will be vaccinated in the coming days.
The program kicked off after India sent 500,000 vials of the Oxford AstraZeneca which was officially handed over to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday.
Sri Lanka has to date detected over 61,000 COVID-19 patients and recorded 297 deaths since the first local patient was detected in the country in March last year.
On Thursday, Sri Lanka recorded its highest ever patient count after 892 new positive cases for the virus in a single day.
President Rajapaksa's senior advisor, Lalith Weeratunga who has been appointed to chair the Presidential Task Force to oversee COVID-19 vaccinations told journalists earlier this week that Sri Lanka had placed an order for 2 million doses of the Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine from India while President Rajapaksa had also made a request to Russia to obtain the Sputnik V vaccine.
Further, he said following a request to China, the Chinese government had agreed to donate 300,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine to Sri Lanka which the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka said will arrive in the country in mid-February.
Weeratunga said authorities aimed to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the target groups by this year against the coronavirus. Enditem
