Co-cabinet Spokesman Plantation Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana yesterday said that the Government has high hopes on the local drug that it could control the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Health Minister has held discussions with the World Health Organization (WHO) to obtain Sri Lanka's share of COVID vaccines, the Co-cabinet Spokesman said.
He was responding to a question by a journalist at the weekly Cabinet media briefing held online yesterday.
“The WHO has already developed a programme to provide these vaccines equally to every country. The Ministry has requested WHO to provide a portion to Sri Lanka. The WHO is working to provide these vaccines to Sri Lanka,” he said.
“There is a discussion in society about the medicines provided as a local Ayurvedic product in Sri Lanka. We are happy to say that the Government is considering this positively. Western medicine usually prescribes such drugs only after they have been tested and confirmed. Western physicians have agreed to prescribe the drug as a short-term response. The vaccine has been shown to be effective. We hope that the world and our country will get rid of this crisis in the next three to six months, ” Dr. Pathirana said.