State Minister for the Production, Supply and Regulation of Drugs Prof. Channa Jayasumana says that the government will rid the country of COVID19 within the three months through the mass vaccination programme.

"Under the vaccination program, nearly 140,000 people in the country had been vaccinated by the night of February 03," Jayasumana said.

Speaking further Minister of State Prof. Channa Jayasumana said, "The Oxford Astra-Zeneca vaccine was ordered in 18 million doses. We think the vaccine should be given in total to nearly 1.5 million people."

However, Jayasumana was a strong supporter of the "miraculous" local syrup prepared by a person named Dhammika Bandara as a remedy for COVID19.

As a result of Jayasumana's intervention, the medical regulators were conducting tests on the efficacy of the local cure. The process, however, came to an abrupt halt with a number of persons who consumed the local cure tested positive for COVID19.

Among them were Cabinet Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi and State Minister Piyal Nishantha who publicly consumed the local syrup.