Chhattigarh receives 3.23 lakh Covishield vaccine doses

The first consignment of 3.23lakh doses of Covishield vaccine reached Chhattisgarh'scapital Raipur from Pune on Wednesday, a health official said.

An IndiGo flight carrying the consignment arrived atthe Swami Vivekanand Airport here around 1.40 pm, an airportofficial said.

Amid high security, boxes containing the vaccine vialswere shifted in refrigerated vans to the state vaccine storein Shashtri Chowk area, Chhattisgarh's Mission Director forthe National Health Mission, Priyanka Shukla, told PTI.

In the first batch, the state has received 3.23 lakhdoses of the Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Pune-basedSerum Institute of India, she said.

A total of 2,67,399 healthcare personnel and otherfrontline workers will be vaccinated in the first phase, forwhich 1,349 centres have been identified across the state.

However, for the roll-out scheduled on January 16, 99vaccination centres have been selected, said Shukla, thestate's nodal officer for the coronavirus vaccination drive.

Later, vaccine stocks from the storage centre herewill be ferried to other storage facilities in variousdistricts in insulatedvans, she said.

For the storage purposes, one state-level, threeregional and 27 district-level cold chain points have been setup, she said.

At present, the state has 630 active cold chain pointsfor the safe storage and transportation of vaccines, whilethere are 81 additional cold chain points, she said.

As many as 1,311 cold-storage boxes are available fortransportation, while 360 dry-storage facilities have been setup for syringes, needles and other material, she added.

Chhattisgarh's COVID-19 caseload stood at 2,90,813till Tuesday.

Of these, 2,79,236 people have so far recovered,while 3,517 patients have died till now due to the disease, asper official figures.