Nearly 56.5 lakh doses of vaccines are being transported from Pune to other cities

Ahead of the first phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive scheduled to start from January 16, vaccine transportation has started from Pune to across the country. Over 54 lakh doses have already been received from the Serum Institute of India (SII), according to the officials.

The vaccine is being sent to 13 cities across the country from Pune Airport which includes Aurangabad, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Karnal, Kolkata, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Lucknow, Chandigarh, and Bhubaneswar.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the Civil Aviation sector launched yet another momentous mission. The Minister said 56.5 lakh doses of vaccines are being transported from Pune across the country via 9 flights.


The Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Affairs Rajesh Bhushan has said that 54,72,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been received to date and the country will receive 100 percent doses by 14th January in all states/UT.

Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) authorities said the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines that reached today was handled through "temperature-controlled technology, ranging from -20 degree Celsius to +25 degree Celsius.

According to a news agency, the consignment for Mumbai will be going by road. Trucks belonging to Kool-ex Cold Chain Ltd are being used to ferry the vaccine stocks. The trucks carried 478 boxes of the vaccines and each box weighs 32 kg.

The first flight carrying the Covishield vaccine has already reached Delhi, Gujarat, Chennai, and Kolkata.

Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) has received a purchase order from the Government of India for 11 million doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine which is being manufactured at its facilities. This would be available at the price of ₹200 per dose, SII officials had said on Monday.

The price of Covid-19 vaccine will range between Rs 200 and Rs 295 in India, Bhushan said on Tuesday.

About the vaccination, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said around 3 crore healthcare workers and frontline workers will be vaccinated in the first phase of vaccination. "In the second phase, those above 50 years and those under 50 years with co-morbid conditions will be vaccinated," he added.

The central government has said that it will bear the cost of the first phase of the vaccines for healthcare and frontline workers.