Gujarat, Telangana, Punjab receive first batch of Covid-19 vaccines

The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday informed that that 1.1 crore Covishield and 55 lakh Covaxin Covid-19 vaccines have been procured at a cost of Rs 200 and Rs 206 per dose, respectively.

Preparations are in full swing across India for the first phase of vaccination, which is scheduled to begin on January 16. Two Covid-19 vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, will be used to vaccinate healthcare and frontline workers in the first round of the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan told a press conference on Tuesday that 110 lakh (1.1 crore) doses of Covishield vaccine have been procured from the Serum Institute of India at a cost of Rs 200 per dose and 55 lakh doses of Covaxin vaccine from Bharat Biotech at Rs 206 per dose.

Many states including Gujarat, Telangana, and Punjab have already received that the first consignment of Covid-19 vaccines. The first batch of 2,76,000 doses of Covishield reached the Sardar Patel international airport in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel flagged off the refrigerated vans to carry the vaccines to various storage depots in Gandhinagar, Bhavnagar and Ahmedabad.

Telangana also received 3.64 lakh doses of Oxford-Astrazeneca's Covishield vaccine on the same day from Serum Institute of India. After the arrival at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, the first consignment of Covid-19 vaccine was shifted to State Vaccine Centre at Koti. In addition, the state also received 20,000 doses of Covaxin, developed and manufactured by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech. Both the vaccines will be administered to health workers from January 16.

Uttar Pradesh is also among the first states to receive the Covid vaccines. A special aircraft carrying the first lot of Covishield vaccines from Pune landed at the Lucknow airport on Tuesday evening, where it was received by UP Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh and Director General, Health, Dr D.S. Negi. The vaccines will be kept in 18 store houses across the state.

Another lot of 2.04 lakh doses of Covishield arrived in Punjab by air on Tuesday. Officials informed media persons that the vaccines will be dispatched to various districts in specially-fabricated vehicles on Wednesday.

The Centre plans to complete distribution of the first batch of the vaccines to all the states and Union Territories by January 14.

Nearly 30 crore people, which include three crore healthcare and frontline workers, and 27 crores above 50 years of age and the under-50 population with comorbidities, will be given the first dose of the vaccines in the first phase of the drive.

With inputs from IANS