Ahead of the world’s largest nationwide inoculation drive which is set to begin on January 16, the first consignment containing vials of Covishield vaccine left Pune’s Serum Institute of India in the early hours of Tuesday. Amid tight security, 3 trucks carrying the very first consignment of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine left for Pune airport to be flown to 13 different locations across the country.
Sandip Bhosale of SB Logistics, the logistics team which is handling air transport of Covishield vaccine from Pune International Airport, said, “The first flight will leave for Delhi from Pune Airport. A total of 8 flights including 2 Cargo flights and other regular commercial flights will be carrying the vaccine. All the vaccines will be dispatched by 10 am.”
First consignment of COVID-19 vaccine leaves SII
The 13 locations where the vaccines will be delivered by air on Tuesday include Delhi, Patna, Shillong, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Vijaywada, Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata and Guwahati. The first cargo flight will drop off the consignment at Hyderabad, Vijaywada and Bhubaneshwar, while the second cargo flight will go to Kolkata and Guwahati. The vaccine consignment for Mumbai will leave by road in Kool-ex cold chain trucks, sources added.
Revealing further details of the vaccine dispatched form the Serum Institute, sources said that among the first batch of vaccine, one consignment will be shipped by an Air India flight to Ahmedabad. The vaccine batch is expected to reach Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport in Ahmedabad on Tuesday at 10:45 am. Meanwhile, SpiceJet on Tuesday carried Covishield vaccine’s 34 boxes weighing 1088 kg from Pune to Delhi.
Proud to say that @flyspicejet carried India’s first consignment of COVID vaccines from Pune to Delhi this morning. pic.twitter.com/OlloFf58ly
— Ajay Singh (@AjaySingh_SG) January 12, 2021
Pune-based logistics firm Kool-ex Cold Chain Ltd has been tasked with ferrying the vaccine stocks via tech-enabled trucks laced with temperature control feature ranging from -25 degrees to +25 degrees Celsius. As per the details shared by pharma logistics company’s Directors, Kool-ex trucks will be transporting at least 60 to 70 per cent of vaccine doses across the country
This massive development in regards to COVID-19 vaccination drive in India comes after Government on January 3 approved 2 Coronavirus vaccines for emergency use- SII’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. Following this, 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.
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.
