Sri Lanka will conduct Covid-19 immunisation trial-runs on Saturday to help officials put in place an effective inoculation programme when the vaccines are made available for use, Director General of Health Services Asela Gunawardena said on Friday.
The vaccination drills will be conducted at two populous Colombo suburbs -- Piliyandala and Ragama.
"This will help us identify any loopholes that need to be corrected when the vaccination programme eventually begins," Gunawardena said.
The director-general said the government is yet to finalise which vaccine would be distributed in the island nation. "Whichever vaccine (is to be distributed), we will be ready with our (distribution) operation. Health workers and frontline staff would be the first recipients of it," he said.
The coronavirus has so far killed 276 people, along with 56,076 confirmed cases, in the island nation.
Gunawardena said over 52,000 of the total cases have been reported after October last year, part of the second wave of cases.
"We have 13,012 beds ready to take care of (coronavirus) patients at the moment. Of them, 9,399 are occupied," Gunawardena said.
He said in the last 24 hours 887 new cases were reported, which is the highest number in daily cases.
Meanwhile, State Minister of Pharmaceuticals Supply Channa Jayasumana told reporters that the National Medicines Regulatory Authority had given regulatory clearance for the emergency use of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.
The Attorney General's office has announced that clarifications have been sought on the purchase agreement of the vaccine from India.
India, earlier in the week, had announced that it will send Covid-19 vaccines under grant assistance to Sri Lanka and seven other countries -- Bhutan, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles, Afghanistan and Mauritius.
The vaccine delivery to Sri Lanka and Afghanistan were pending confirmation of regulatory clearances from the host countries, the Ministry of External Affairs had said.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks