478 Boxes of Vaccines transported from Pune Airport to 13 cities.
India is at the verge of vaccine distribution drive. The first batch of Covishield from the Serum Institute of India's coronavirus vaccine has been packaged off to Pune today for distribution. This has been done four days ahead of the nationwide inoculation drive against COVID-19.
The packaging and transportation of the vaccines has been done under high security. Nearly 3 temperature-controlled trucks left the Serum Institute with their precious consignment shortly before five am. The truck carried 478 vaccination boxes which each weighting 32kg. According to a report of PTI, a "Puja" was performed as a ritual for the successful delivery of the vaccines.
The report of PTI says that the Pune Airport will deliver the vaccines in 13 cities of the country. According to a tweet of Pune Airport, they wished good luck and also stated "Ready get set go! Stand by India! The vaccine to kill the illness is being loaded into the craft for distribution everywhere the country currently."
"Civil aviation sector launches yet another big mission," tweeted Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, because the 1st 2 flights operated by SpiceJet and GoAir took off with the vaccines to Delhi and Chennai. According to sources, the vaccines are also being flown out in two cargo flights to Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Kolkata and Guwahati. The vaccines for Mumbai will reach by road.
The government has ordered 1.01 crore doses of Covishield and plans to shop for a complete of 5.60 crore doses by April, at Rs. 200 per dose. The vaccination will start from 16 January onwards in nationwide. According to the experts, the second dose will be given to the patient after a gap of 28 days of the first dose. This process will be taken under high safety measures according to the coronavirus guidelines.
The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now.