Sri Lanka approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for Covid-19 amid warnings from doctors that front-line health workers should be quickly inoculated to stop the system from collapsing.

Minister for Pharmaceutical Production and Regulation Channa Jayasumana said the British vaccine has been approved for emergency use, the first in Sri Lanka, while several other candidates are in the pipeline at the National Medicines Regulatory Authority.

It is unknown when Sri Lanka will be getting the vaccine. Hundreds of health care workers have tested positive in several hospitals.

"When you have one positive case, about 10 health workers will need to be sent to quarantine. System is collapsing day by day," said Dr Haritha Aluthge from the Government Medical Officers Association.