Mumbai: Maharashtra Health Department on Wednesday said that a total of 9.63-lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine Covishield have been received for Maharashtra from the Serum Institute of India.
"All doses were received by the Health Department at Pune last night and from there they were distributed to different cities/districts of the state,'' the state's Health Department said.
Total 9.63-lakh doses have been received for Maharashtra from Serum Institute of India. All doses were received by Health Dept at Pune last night and from there they were distributed to different cities/districts of the state: Maharashtra Health Department #Covishield
— ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2021
The first consignment of Covishield by Serum Institute of India has arrived in Mumbai earlier this morning. The vaccine was brought from Pune in a special vehicle of BMC.
Maharashtra: The first consignment of #Covishield by Serum Institute of India arrived in Mumbai, earlier this morning. The vaccine was brought from Pune in a special vehicle of BMC. #COVIDVaccination pic.twitter.com/zyQA3ICZHI
— ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2021
Meanwhile, the transportation of COVID-19 vaccine from Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) commenced on Wednesday with budget carrier GoAir airlifting 2,400 vials of Covishield to Goa.
The Wadia Group-owned no-frills airline has scheduled flights carrying vaccines to Lucknow, Cochin and Chandigarh as well, besides Goa, during the day, a GoAir spokesperson was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
GoAir's first flight carrying 2,400 vials (24,000 doses) of Covishield vaccine took off at 5.20 am and reached Goa at 6.30 am, the spokesperson said.
A massive pan-India inoculation drive against COVID-19 was set in process on Tuesday with more than 56 lakh doses of the Covishield vaccine leaving Pune for 13 cities across the country, four days before the vaccinations are scheduled to begin on January 16.
Covishield is developed by Oxford University and British-Swedish company AstraZeneca and manufactured by Pune-based pharma firm Serum Institute of India (SII).
GoAir said it will airlift a total of 69,600 vials of the vaccine.
Mumbai airport, which is the "largest pharma hub", is looking to cater to at least 16 destinations in the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccines, the private airport operator had said in a statement on Tuesday.
