Colombo, The World Bank has agreed to give a 100-million-US dollar loan to support Sri Lanka’s efforts to curb the spread of the COVID-19, local media reported here Thursday.
The Sri Lankan government said the funding would be to procure 14 million doses of the Pfizer vaccines as well as for financing other costs pertaining to the vaccination program.
Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal submitted by Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella to this effect, the government information department said in a statement.
A mass-scale vaccination program is currently underway in the country with over 51 percent of the population vaccinated to date.
The Health Ministry said the leading vaccine being administered across the nation was the Sinopharm vaccine with 11,182,365 people receiving the first dose and 9,102,271 receiving the second dose, till Wednesday.
Sri Lanka has recorded an overall COVID-19 patient count of 508,672 and 12,376 deaths from the virus.
(EW Correspondent)
