COLOMBO — The Sri Lankan government has received another batch of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government as the island country looks to vaccinate its citizens against the virus.

The vaccines which arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport on the night of May 25 from Beijing were received by Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong and handed over to Sri Lanka's Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi.

This shipment of vaccines was the second batch to arrive in Sri Lanka as aid from China. In March, China donated a batch of Sinopharm vaccines to the Sri Lankan government.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, Wanniarachchi thanked China for the valuable donation.

She said this donation of vaccines was extremely valuable for the island country and China was a country who had continuously assisted Sri Lanka in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ambassador Qi said COVID-19 was a common enemy and building a global community of health for all was a common goal.

"Unity and solidarity are the most powerful weapons fighting the pandemic, and vaccine sharing is the only magic solution to ultimately defeat the pandemic," he said.

Sri Lanka is facing a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with over 171,000 infected patients detected to date. In the past one month alone, over 50,000 people have been infected.