Covishield: 1st consignment of vaccines leaves Serum Institute
1 min read . Updated: 12 Jan 2021, 07:53 AM IST
PremiumThree temperature-controlled trucks rolled out of the Serum Institute's gates shortly before 5 am and left for Pune airport
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 Trucks
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.
13 Locations
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.
478 Boxes
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.
On road to Mumbai
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.
