First lot of 10 lakh COVID vaccines for Bengal, NE states arrive at Kolkata airport

The first consignment of 10 lakhdoses of COVID-19 vaccines -- 6.89 lakh for Bengal and therest for nearby states -- arrived here on Tuesday afternoon ina special cargo flight from Pune's Serum Institute, a seniorofficial of the state health department said.

The vaccines, kept in around 58 boxes, were ferriedfrom the city airport, where it landed around 1.40 pm, in twoinsulated vans -- one to state-owned Central Family WelfareStores at Bagbazar and another to the Government Medical StoreDepot in Hastings.

Police pilot cars escorted the two vans which spedthrough a green corridor, set up for the purpose, he stated.

Five walk-in-coolers (WICs) and four walk-in-freezers(WIFs) have been installed at the Bagbazar store forstockpiling 6.89 lakh vials, which would be dispatched to 941centres across Bengal.

The rest of over three lakh vaccines will be sent offfrom the central depot to states in the northeastern part ofthe country, and also to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, he said.

''Kolkata has been chosen as the hub to distributevaccines to other states, especially those in the northeast.

The vaccines, to be sent to other states, have been stored ina facility in Hastings,'' the official explained.

According to the official, the exercise to dispatchvials to the city's neighbouring districts has already begun.

The northern districts of Bengal would start receivingthe vials from Wednesday, and arrangements have also been madeto transport the vaccine to the Sunderbans and Sagar Islandsthrough waterways, he said.

''All guidelines will have to be strictly followedwhile transporting the vaccines to the districts, that, too,before January 16, so that the scheduled vaccination processcan start on time,'' the official said.

Talking about precautionary measures taken for safestorage of the vials, he said that around each cold chain,adequate police personnel have been deployed to ensure thatthere was no untoward incident.

The central government had last week said that thenationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive would begin on January16. Frontline workers will be among the first ones to receivethe dose.