By Rajasinghe Bandara –

Dr. Rajasinghe Bandara

In response to the question raised in the parliament on the18 December 2024 by the opposition M.P. Rauff Hakeem regarding alleged government corruption involving a Covid-19 vaccine deals, Minister of Health Dr Nalinda Jayatissa promised to reveal them soon.  Here is a top evidence for the minister and the government.

Speaking at the Special Committee on COVID-19 Prevention meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat under the chairmanship of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, State Pharmaceuticals Corporation Chairman Dr. Prasanna Gunasena said that the government had spent Rs. 76 billion 2021 year alone to import COVID-19 vaccines – source Daily News 12 June 2021.

On 30 November 2021, during the budget debate for 2022, United People’s Power MP Mujibur Rahman challenged Channa Jayasumana, Minister of State for Pharmaceutical Production, Supply and Regulation of the Ministry of Health about the alleged grand scale fraudulent deals of Covid-19 vaccines.  He claimed that with the corrupt deals, government had lost billions of rupees and said that the chairman (Prasanna Gunasena) of State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC) and the president was responsible of the deals.  When he said ‘the vaccines such as AstraZeneca and Pfizer with high efficacy rates are cheaper to import, why the government has been paying for Sinopharm vaccine at the rate of $15 for a jab and Sputnik V at $ 10’. Defending the government, the state minister Channa Jayasumana said angrily, ‘we did not buy any vaccines at higher rates.  AstraZeneca was not available to purchase from India due the surge of the pandemic in the country, and for Pfizer in USA had other priorities to supply the vaccines so there was a long waiting time.’

Why Channa Jayasumana was so angry, why did he rush to deny the allegation, was he honest? To justify Sinopharm and Sputnik V vaccine imports, government backed media convinced the public there was no other way around than importing those vaccines from China and Russia to control the pandemic.

During the Covid surge in Sri Lanka in May and June in 2021, when I watched the news about false claims about the availability and the prices of the vaccines, as the Operations Director of MTJ Global Ltd. , I contacted one of the executive directors of AstraZeneca plc pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Company, to understand the truth. They confirmed that they could supply any required quantities to Sri Lanka within a very short period of time and the price was between $3-5. (US Dollars)

After receiving the information I published the following article on Daily Financial Times, on 18 June 2021, with the genuine intention to help Sri Lanka, which had been facing severe financial crisis since the pandemic began in 2020 March.

Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine can be imported from UK at $ 3-5

According to the Sri Lankan media and the Government, buying Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is extremely difficult and expensive because of the surge of the pandemic in India. It was reported ‘Sri Lanka is facing a severe shortage of AstraZeneca vaccines as the producer in the neighboring India failed to provide the promised stock due to the crisis in that country.’

After the first vaccine in January this year, around 600,000 people have been waiting to get the second jab for more than four months. According to the Oxford AstraZeneca Company to get higher rates of efficacy, dosing intervals between two doses should be 90 days.

To help the situation in Sri Lanka I spoke to one of the Executive Directors of AstraZeneca biopharmaceutical company on Wednesday 16 June and asked about the prices and availability of the vaccines.  He said: “The prices are between $ 3 and $ 5.”

Then I asked whether there was a different pricing for developed countries and developing countries. He said: “No, those are the global rates.”

The next question I asked was about the availability and the time scale for supplying. “It depends, once we have the order we manufacture and send them to the destinations without delay. We have the capacity to do it,” he explained. Then I thanked him and said I was going to pass the information to Sri Lanka.

During his stay in the UK this week, for G7 summit, American President Joe Biden ordered half a billion doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from the pharmaceutical company, to fight against the pandemic. I hope this is enough to understand the efficacy and the capacity.

The efficacy rate of the vaccine is more than 90%. I do not understand why the Government of Sri Lanka agreed to purchase Sinopharm vaccine at the rate of $ 15 for a jab and Sputnik V at $ 10 a dose when the country is facing severe financial hardships with foreign exchange.

Desperate Sri Lankans have been convinced by the media and some health professionals, due to the surge of the pandemic in India, there is no way to get AstraZeneca and have to look for another alternatives i.e. State minister of Pharmaceutical Production, Supply and Regulation Professor Channa Jayasumana announced now he was waiting to get approval from the medical experts to give Pfizer vaccine as the second dose to the people those who had Oxford AstraZeneca as the first vaccine for COVID-19.

Sri Lanka has witnessed a surge of positive cases and deaths since April, mainly caused by celebrations and shopping during last April’s traditional New Year festival. The island has registered more than 228,255 cases and 2,315 (at lunch time on 16 June) confirmed deaths.

After publishing the article, I emailed it to the former minister of health Pavitthra Vanniarachchi with a copy to State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Prof Channa Jayasumana on 20 June 2021.

This was the reply I received from the state minister, on the same day.

‘Dear Mr Rajasinghe,

Thank you very much for your mail. I have gone through your article.

Could you please contact either Dr Prasanna Gunasena Chairman SPC 0714204262 or Mr. Dinusha Dassanayake  GM/SPC 0773721188/ 0112582479 and give them the contact detail of said Executive director of AZ.

I really appreciate your enthusiasm to help people in Sri Lanka.

Thank you,

Channa Jayasumana’

In response to his message, I tried to contact the Chairman of State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC) Dr Prasanna Gunasena and the general manager of the SPC, Dinusha Dassanayake, informing with WhatsApp messages about Prof Jayasumana’s request.  Neither of them responded. Then I replied to the minister, on the 20^th June, understanding the urgency. Please see the message below,

Dear Minister,

I contacted AstraZeneca Company.  Then I rang on both numbers to talk to the Chairman or the GM.  No one answered.

The company advised us to get an official enquiry to our company email address about the quantity the government intend to purchase and when the stock/vaccines needed and forward to them. It should include the following:

1. Quantity required

2. How soon

3. Priority i.e. as 2nd jab/ vulnerable groups of people.

4. Potential further orders (if government intends)

It would be great if you could issue a letter of the requirements on an official government letterhead, as AZ needs an official confirmation to open a dialogue with the relevant people within the organisation.

After my reply , Channa Jayasumana was silent.

*Rajasinghe Bandara from London