Sri Lanka is facing a severe shortage of AstraZeneca vaccines as the producer in the neighbouring India failed to provide the promised stock due to the crisis in that country.

On Wednesday, the president's office announced that president Gotabhaya Rajapaksa requested Prime Minister of Japan Yoshiihide Suga provide 600,000 doses of AstraZeneca.

The request “has been met with positive responses,” according to a statement from the president's office. Sri Lanka is currently using China's Sinopharm and Rusian Sputnik V vaccines.

Sri Lanka has witnessed an increase of positive cases and deaths since April, partly caused by celebrations and shopping during last month's traditional new year festival. Sri Lanka has registered more than 210,000 cases and 1,843 confirmed deaths.