India News | 1st Consignment of Covishield Vaccines Leaves Serum Institute
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The first consignment of Covishield vaccines left the Serum Institute of India in the wee hours on Tuesday ahead of the January 16 nationwide inoculation drive launch, marking a decisive phase in anti-coronavirus fight.
Pune, Jan 12 (PTI) The first consignment of Covishield vaccines left the Serum Institute of India in the wee hours on Tuesday ahead of the January 16 nationwide inoculation drive launch, marking a decisive phase in anti-coronavirus fight.
Three temperature-controlled trucks rolled out of the Serum Institute's gates shortly before 5 am and left for Pune airport, from where the vaccines will be flown across India.
A 'puja' was performed before the vehicles left the facility.
The 13 locations where Covishield vaccines will be flown from Pune include Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Karnal, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Guwahati, Lucknow, Chandigarh and Bhubaneswar, a source closely involved in the transport arrangements told PTI.
The trucks carried 478 boxes of the vaccines and each box weighs 32 kg. The cargo will be dispatched to these locations by 10 am, he added.
The consignment for Mumbai will leave by road, he said, adding trucks belonging to Kool-ex Cold Chain Ltd are being used to ferry the vaccine stocks.
The Central government on Monday placed firm orders in advanced commitments for over 6 crore doses of COVID vaccine from Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech for inoculating three crore healthcare and frontline workers in the first phase of the vaccination drive scheduled to start from January 16. PTI
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)