First consignment of Bharat Biotech`s Covaxin arrives in Delhi for January 16 mass vaccination

New Delhi: After acquiring Covishield, a consignment of COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Bharat Biotech arrived in the national capital on Wednesday. The first consignment of the Bharat Biotech`s Covaxin was carried to the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) via Air India flight AI559 which operated from Hyderabad. It landed in Delhi at around 9 am, officials from IGIA informed.

Delhi: The first consignment of #Covaxin by Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech, arrives at Indira Gandhi International Airport. #COVIDVaccination https://t.co/P46wLOuwUR pic.twitter.com/518DSwc5l3

— ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2021

According to news agency ANI, three boxes of Covaxin was transported from Kurukshetra in Haryana to the national capital. The first consignment of the Covid-19 vaccine by Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport earlier this morning, the agency reported.

Delhi: Three boxes of #Covaxin being taken to Kurukshetra in Haryana.

The first consignment of the #CovidVaccine by Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech, arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport earlier this morning. https://t.co/vZQVm0UutF pic.twitter.com/SaRlTV140F

— ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2021

On Tuesday, the first consignment of COVID-19 vaccine ‘Covishield’ had arrived at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport from Pune.

Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH) would now receive 20,000 doses of Bharat Biotech`s Covid vaccine from the consignment which landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on Wednesday morning.

The doses are expected to reach the hospital by 1 pm, which will double-up as the national capital`s only vaccine storage facility, they added. “We are told that we would receive 20,000 doses from the consignment,” confirmed BL Sherwal, Director, RGSSH.

Covaxin developer Bharat Biotech aims to dispatch around 55 lakh vaccines to 11 states in the initial phase, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Lucknow, Chennai and Jaipur.

The RGSSH has already received 2.64 lakh doses of Covid vaccine on Tuesday. The hospital has received 22 boxes consisting of 26,400 vials of Covishield, the Covid vaccine by the Serum Institute of India (SII). “A total of 22 boxes of vaccines have been received here. Each box contains 1200 vials and each vial has 10 doses,” Chhavi Gupta, spokesperson of the hospital said.

Covishield and Covaxin, the two COVID-19 vaccines which have received Emergency Use Authorisation (EAU) have been tested on thousands of people and side-effects are negligible, Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, said on Tuesday adding that the two “are safest of the vaccines”.

“Both the vaccines (Covishield and Covaxin) have been authorized for emergency use and there should be no doubt about their safety. They have been tested on thousands of people and side-effects are negligible. There is no risk of any significance,” Dr Paul said at a press conference.

The first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive is scheduled to start from January 16. Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that the Central government is having close collaboration with states and union territories for vaccine roll-out. “All preparations are on track for vaccine roll-out from January 16,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier 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.

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(With agency inputs)