Steps are being taken to launch the Sinovac vaccine as a final product in Sri Lanka, State Minister of Production, Supply, and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Prof. Channa Jayasumana said.
With regard to the setting up of a plant to manufacture the Chinese Sinovac COVID vaccines in Kandy, the State Minister said that the preliminary technical work is to be completed in a few weeks.
Procurement conditions by Chinese firm
The Chinese company behind Sinovac has said that that disclosing the price of the vaccine to the public is grounds for contract termination, 'Lanka Truth' reported.
According to the Memorandum of Understanding between Sinovac Lifesciences Co. Ltd. and Kelun Lifesciences (Pvt) Ltd, if the price in the agreement is disclosed to the public or spoken about in the public it will be subjected for termination of the agreement, the report said.
Disclosure of procurement price of China's Sinopharm vaccine in Sri Lanka sparked a heated debate after reports emerged that Sri Lanka had to pay a higher per-dose price than Bangladesh. It was reported that Sri Lanka had paid USD 15 per dose of the Sinopharm vaccine while Bangladesh had secured the vaccine at USD 10 per dose.
Furthermore, in a letter to State Minister Prof. Channa Jayasumana, Kelun Lifesciences (Pvt) Ltd said that Sinovac Lifesciences Co. Ltd. has imposed a condition for a Guaranteed Purchase Order with a minimum purchase order quantity of 13 million vaccine doses.
Sinovac Biotech has demanded payment terms wherein the payment for the first 3 million doses will have to be made in advance and the payment for the remaining 10 million doses will have to be payment at Irrevocable LC / Advance, it is learnt.
Meanwhile, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa making a special Address to the Nation on Friday said the Government plans to vaccinate 13 million people by the end of September this year. It is highly likely that the President was talking about the 13 million doses to be received by Sinovac.
The manufacturing (Dispensing, Filling, Packaging and Testing) of the vaccine will be done at a facility owned by Kelun Lifesciences in Pallekele.
