56 lakh doses of Covishield shipped across India for massive Covid vaccination drive | Highlights
A massive pan-India inoculation drive against Covid-19 was set in process on Tuesday with more than 56 lakh doses of the Covishield vaccine flown to 13 cities across India from Pune and taken to designated national and state-level stores amid tight security.
India on Tuesday took the first big step in its lead up to the massive Covid vaccination drive scheduled for January 16 on Tuesday as the Serum Institute dispatched 100s of vials of the Covishield vaccine.
56 lakh doses of the Covid vaccine were flown to 13 cities across India from Pune and taken to designated national and state-level stores amid tight security on Tuesday.
The Centre said all the vaccine vials -- 1.1 crore of Covishield from the Serum Institute of India and 55 lakh of Covaxin from Bharat Biotech -- will be received by January 14.
The vials of Covishield left the Pune premises of the Serum Institute at around 5 am on Tuesday. Carried in three temperature-controlled trucks, the vaccines were flagged off with a puja at the gates.
The trucks made their way to the Pune airport amid tight security.
The first consignment containing 2.64 lakh doses reached Delhi a few hours later on a Spicejet flight and was then taken to Delhi's central storage facility at Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital (RGSSH) through a 'green corridor'.
Good news just flew in! The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines reached #DelhiAirport today. Our cargo terminal efficiently handled it through temperature-controlled technology, ranging from -20 Deg C to +25 Deg C. @MoCA_GoI @HardeepSPuri @AAI_Official pic.twitter.com/59AQsnCrIe — Delhi Airport (@DelhiAirport) January 12, 2021
Another vaccine consignment on three trucks left SII for Mumbai in the evening and will be sent from there to 27 places across the country on Wednesday.
PROUD MOMENT, SAYS SII CEO
"This is a proud and historic moment as scientists, experts and all other stakeholders took great efforts while making this vaccine in less than a year," SII CEO Adar Poonawalla said after the vaccine rolled out of the facility.
He said there are plans to provide five to six crore more doses by February.
Poonawalla said the SII has offered the vaccine to the central government at a special price of Rs 200.
An emotional moment for the team at @SerumInstIndia as the first shipments of #Covishield finally leave for multiple locations across India. pic.twitter.com/AmrZLesmj5 — Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 12, 2021
"This is one of the most affordable vaccines in the world and we are offering it to the GoI at a special price just to support the Prime Minister's vision and to support the 'aam aadmi' of our country," he added.
He also said that once the SII gets the requisite permission, the vaccine will be made available in the private market for Rs 1,000.
INDIAN AIRLINES FLY VACCINES ACROSS COUNTRY
Announcing the start of the vaccine movement earlier in the day, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Twitter that four airlines were operating nine flights to transport 56.5 lakh doses of the vaccine from Pune to Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Shillong, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Chandigarh.
Civil aviation sector launches yet another momentous mission.
Vaccine movement starts.
First two flights operated by @flyspicejet & @goairlinesindia from Pune to Delhi & Chennai have taken off. pic.twitter.com/uo11S4OvqK — Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) January 12, 2021
SpiceJet said its consignments included 276,000 doses to Guwahati, 996,000 doses to Kolkata, 3,72,000 doses to Hyderabad, 480,000 doses to Bhubaneswar, 648,000 doses to Bengaluru, 552,000 doses to Patna and 408,000 doses to Vijayawada.
GoAir, another budget carrier, said it carried its first batch of 70,800 vials from Pune to Chennai. Air India said it carried its consignment of 2,76,000 vaccine doses, weighing 700 kg approximately, from Pune to Ahmedabad.
IndiGo moved the vaccines from Pune to Chandigarh (20,450 vials) and Lucknow, where Uttar Pradesh’s Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh and senior officials were present at the airport.
Prayers were offered again at the airport before the dispatching of the container to a vaccine storage facility in the state capital.
Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, who visited the airport in Ahmedabad, described the arrival of the vaccines as a "much-awaited moment".
"The day has finally arrived. We are fully ready for the vaccination drive starting January 16. Our officials received the consignment and took them to the state vaccine centre," Odisha Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, PK Mohapatra said in Bhubaneswar.
GOVT PREPARES FOR VACCINE SHIPMENT
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said there are four Central Government Medical Stores Depots at Chennai, Karnal, Kolkata and Mumbai where the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine, Covishield, doses are being received.
Besides this, all states have at least one regional vaccine store. Some big states have multiple stores. Uttar Pradesh has nine such stores, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat four each, Kerala has three such facilities, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka and Rajasthan two each, he said.
He said there will be a gap of 28 days between two doses of Covid-19 vaccine and its effectiveness begins 14 days after the second dose.
"So we urge people to keep following Covid-appropriate behaviour," he said.
The government on Monday placed firm orders in advanced commitments for over six crore doses of Covid vaccines from SII and Bharat Biotech for inoculating three crore healthcare and frontline workers in the first phase. The cost is Rs 1,300 crore.
Interacting with chief ministers on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi underscored the enormity of what he called the world's biggest vaccination exercise. Over 30 crore citizens will get the jabs in the next few months in India against only 2.5 crore people vaccinated so far in over 50 countries in around a month, he said.
Covishield is developed by Oxford University and British-Swedish company AstraZeneca and manufactured by the SII.
Bharat Biotech has developed the indigenous vaccine Covaxin in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology.
India has so far reported 1,04,79,179 Covid-19 cases and 1,51,327 deaths. The active caseload remained below three lakh.