Sudarshani Fernandopulle, Minister of State for Primary Health Care and COVID19-related tasks states that the Pfizer Biotech vaccine, a joint product of the United States and Germany, is not suitable for Sri Lanka due to environmental factors.

A number of countries have approved the vaccine as a remedy for COVID19 and have already rolled out mass vaccination programmes.

Fernandopulle made these remarks while participating in an inspection tour of the Katunayake Airport yesterday (20) to inquire into the PCR testing process.

She says that the Pfizer Biotech vaccine should be stored at a temperature of minus 70 degrees Celsius and that it is not suitable for a tropical country like ours.

However, she claims that Sri Laka remains hopeful about obraining Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine when it is ready. Sri Lanka has already sough financial assistance from international financial organizations to buy COVID19 vaccines.