New Delhi: The first consignment containing vials of Covishield vaccine was dispatched from the Serum Institute of India here in the early hours of Tuesday, ahead of the January 16 launch of the nationwide vaccination drive.
Amid tight security, three trucks carrying the very first consignment of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine left for Pune airport to be flown to 13 locations across the country today. “The first flight will leave for Delhi from Pune airport,” Sandip Bhosale, SB Logistics, the logistics team which is handling air transport of Covishield vaccine from Pune International Airport told ANI.
A total of eight flights- two cargo flights and other regular commercial flights will carry the vaccines, he said.
“All vaccines will be dispatched by 10 am,” he added.
The locations include Delhi, Karnal, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bhubhaneshwar, Kolkata and Guwahati.
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Tamil Nadu: Chennai receives the first batch of COVID19 vaccine 'Covishield' pic.twitter.com/qJ8YtBlSNr
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2021
Serum Institute’s Covishield supplies begin moving from Pune unit for distribution across nation
|@SerumInstIndia #CoviShield #Pune| pic.twitter.com/UrJ9syvAdZ— Newsroom Post (@NewsroomPostCom) January 12, 2021
Gujarat: The first consignment of the #COVID19 vaccine arrives at Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport
Gujarat Deputy CM Nitin Patel present at the airport pic.twitter.com/3y3RP0SxdQ
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2021
SpiceJet has carried India’s first consignment of Covid vaccine today. The first consignment of ‘Covishield’ consisting of 34 boxes and weighing 1088 kg was carried from #Pune to #Delhi: Ajay Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, SpiceJet pic.twitter.com/YEfiiENJBO
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2021
The first flight carrying COVID19 vaccine ‘Covishield’ has departed from Pune International Airport to Delhi. https://t.co/9QhSUWF1WC
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2021
Serum Institute of India’s COVID19 vaccine ‘Covishield’ will be shipped to different locations in the country from Pune airport, ahead of January 16 vaccine rollout
(Photo source: Pune Airport’s Twitter) pic.twitter.com/kRIzkuzAtl
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2021
The first Cargo flight with the vaccines will drop off the consignment at Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Bhubhaneshwar while the second cargo flight will go to Kolkata and Guwahati.
“The first consignment of the vaccine has been dispatched from the facility of Serum Institute of India here. We have made elaborate security arrangements,” said Namrata Patil, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DCP), Pune.
Pune-based logistic firm Kool-ex Cold Chain tasked with ferrying the vaccine stocks via tech-enabled trucks laced with temperature control feature ranging from -25 degrees to +25 degrees Celsius.
Serum Institute of India (SII) has received a purchase order from the Government of India for 11 million doses of Covishield vaccine, which would be available at the price of Rs 200 per dose, SII officials had said on Monday.
The first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive in the country is starting from January 16. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier said “We aim to vaccinate 30 crore people in the next few months.”
Around 3 crore healthcare workers and frontline workers will be vaccinated in the first phase of vaccination, he added. In the second phase, those above 50 years and those under 50 years with co-morbid conditions will be vaccinated, he further said.
