The Latest: Sri Lanka to get World Bank vaccine funding help

The World Bank said it has signed an agreement with Sri Lanka to provide $80.5 million to help the island nation’s vaccination drive against COVID-19

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The World Bank said it has signed an agreement with Sri Lanka to provide $80.5 million to help the island nation’s vaccination drive against COVID-19. The funding comes as Sri Lanka is facing a severe shortage of vaccines because of the current crisis in neighboring India, which had earlier promised to give the vaccines to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka began it’s vaccination drive on Jan. 29 and in the first round, 925,242 people were vaccinated using Oxford-AstraZeneca shots. At present, Sri Lanka's health ministry has about 350,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca and as a result, there is a shortage of 600,000 doses in order to complete administering second doses.