Covid vaccine: 2 lakh doses for Punjab arrive at Chandigarh airport

The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) had approved the emergency use of both Serum Institute of India (SII)’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for emergency use against COVID-19 in India. An expert panel of Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) recommended them for emergency use. Serum Institute of India (SII) has dispatched Covishield vaccine via 9 flights from Pune with 56.5 lakh doses to Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Shillong, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Bengaluru, Lucknow, and Chandigarh. The first consignment contains 2.04 lakh doses and has arrived in Chandigarh, Punjab. Also Read | Covishield vaccine: Govt. commits to buy another 4.5 Cr doses It arrived at the Chandigarh International Airport in Mohali around 1 pm. Airport CEO Ajay Bhardwaj confirmed the arrival. Hussan Lal, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, said that after receiving the vaccine at the airport, the state government would transport it under tight security in specially-fabricated vaccination vans to its state vaccine store in Sector 24, Chandigarh. He added that the vaccine would be dispatched to various districts across the state on Wednesday. The district administrations will store the vaccine at their respective vaccine stores. Also Read | Serum Institute of India receives purchase order from Govt. of India “Both healthcare and frontline workers will be vaccinated for free,” said the Health Secretary. Adding that “the first consignment of vaccine has also been provided for free by the Centre to the state." He also mentioned that the all logistics, systems and processes for COVID-19 vaccination were in place after checking them repeatedly during the dry runs at all 22 districts in the state. -PTC News