23,500 doses of Covishield vaccine reach Goa

The two boxes received wereexpeditiously cleared by TEAM GOA and handed over to HealthServices officials, the Goa Airport said in a tweet.Goa has geared up for the immunisation programme setto begin from January 16. The coastalstate has so far reported 749 deaths due to the disease, asper official figures.

The first consignment of 23,500doses of the Covishield vaccine reached Goa from Mumbai onWednesday morning, a state health official said.

The vaccine doses were transported to the coastalstate by a flight.

Goa Health Services Director Jose D'Sa told PTI thattwo boxes comprising 23,500 doses of the Covishield vaccinewere received in the morning.

''The first lot of COVID-19 vaccine for Goa has reachedtoday early morning at 0622 hrs. The two boxes received wereexpeditiously cleared by TEAM GOA and handed over to HealthServices officials,'' the Goa Airport said in a tweet.

Goa has geared up for the immunisation programme setto begin from January 16. Around 18,000 health workers in thestate will be covered during the initial phase, another healthofficial said.

The state government has identified eight hospitals,including three private medical facilities, where these doseswould be administered, an official earlier said.

Covishield is developed by the Oxford University andBritish-Swedish company AstraZeneca and manufactured by thePune-based pharma firm Serum Institute of India.

On Tuesday, Goa's COVID-19 tally reached 51,983, after92 more people tested positive for the infection. The coastalstate has so far reported 749 deaths due to the disease, asper official figures.