COVID-19 vaccination in Sri Lanka

A Sri Lankan woman is vaccinated in 2021 as part of the COVAX initiative
Date	29 January 2021 (2021-01-29) – present
Location	Sri Lanka
Cause	COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka
Organized by	Government of Sri Lanka
Outcome	56.4% of the Sri Lankan population has received at least one dose (as of 28 August 2021) 31.5% of Sri Lankan population has received both doses (as of 28 August 2021)

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COVID-19 vaccination in Sri Lanka is an ongoing immunisation campaign against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, in response to the ongoing pandemic in the country. As of late July, the Sinopharm BIBP vaccine accounted for 78% of the total 13.8 million vaccines obtained by Sri Lanka to date.^[1] The United States donated over 1.5 million Moderna vaccine through COVAX.^[2]

The Government of Sri Lanka commenced its COVID-19 vaccination program under the COVAX facility with first batch of Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccines arrive in Sri Lanka on 28 January 2021 from the Serum Institute of India. (SII).^[3]

By April, with a surge in COVID cases in a third wave of infections, Sri Lanka faced a severe shortage of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine due to an export ban by India.^[4] This left majority of the 3.5% of the population that was given the first dose without access to the second.^[5] Sri Lanka faced an shortage of Sputnik V vaccine due to a spike of cases in Russia resulting in the manufacturer Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, focusing on meeting local demand.^[6]

In March 2021, the Sinopharm BIBP vaccine was approved emergency use.^[7] In May, the country ordered 14 million doses on top of 1.1 million doses previously donated.^[8] By July, Sri Lanka had received 10.7 million doses of the vaccine.^[1] In June, local studies in the country showed vaccination with the Sinopharm BIBP vaccine generated seroconversion and antibody responses in individuals to Delta and Beta variants similar to antibody levels seen following a natural infection^[9][10]

With vaccination of persons above 30 years reaching completion, vaccination of those between 18 and 30 years who did not fall under special categories were started in early September 2021.^[11]

On 27 May State Minister for Pharmaceuticals Channa Jayasumana told reporters Sri Lanka was considering co-production of CoronaVac. It was not clarified if it would handle full production or a fill and finish plant.^[12]

Currently, the vaccines approved by government of Sri Lanka for emergency use are:

Vaccine	Approval	Deployment
Oxford–AstraZeneca	Yes	Yes[3]
Sinopharm BIBP	Yes	Yes[13]
Sputnik V	Yes	Yes[14]
Pfizer–BioNTech	Yes	Yes
Moderna	Yes	Yes
Sinovac	Yes	No

Vaccine types were deployed on a geographical and group basis:

Special groups

• Medical professionals and front line workers: Oxford–AstraZeneca
• Students travelling overseas for studies: Pfizer–BioNTech
• Migrant workers travelling overseas for work: Pfizer–BioNTech
• Fishermen in Mannar: Pfizer–BioNTech

Geographical

• Western province: Oxford–AstraZeneca, Sinopharm BIBP
• Central province: Sputnik V, Moderna
• Southern province: Oxford–AstraZeneca, Sinopharm BIBP
• North Western province: Oxford–AstraZeneca, Sinopharm BIBP
• Northern province: Sinopharm BIBP
• Eastern province: Sinopharm BIBP
• Sabaragamuwa province: Sinopharm BIBP
• Uva province: Sinopharm BIBP
• North central province: Sinopharm BIBP

Vaccine	Type (technology)	Doses ordered	Manufacturer	Remarks
Oxford–AstraZeneca	Viral vector	8,400,000	Serum Institute	-
Sputnik V	Viral vector	13,000,000	R-Pharm	-
Pfizer–BioNTech	RNA	14,900,000 [15][11]	Pfizer	-
Sinopharm BIBP	Inactivated virus	23,000,000[16][8]	Sinopharm	-