2.65 lakh more doses of 'Covishield' reach Gujarat

Consignments of 2.65 lakhdoses of COVID-19 vaccine 'Covishield' reached Gujarat by airand road on Wednesday from Serum Institute of India (SII) inMaharashtra's Pune city, health officials said.

The vaccine vials reached Surat and Vadodara by roadand Rajkot by air, three days ahead of the nationwide launchof the inoculation drive on January 16, they said.

As many as 2.76 lakh doses of the coronavirus vaccine,developed by Oxford University and British-Swedish companyAstraZeneca and manufactured by the Pune-based SII,had landed at the Ahmedabad airport on Tuesday, the firstconsignment for Gujarat.

A total of 2.65 lakh doses of the vaccine weredispatched from the SII for Gujarat's three regional centres-- Surat (93,500), Vadodara (94,500) and Rajkot (77,000), theofficials said.

In Surat and Vadodara, the vials reached intemperature-controlled trucks.

The second consignments will cover districts in thestate's south, central and Saurashtra-Kutch regions.

In Surat, COVID-19 vaccine doses were received byGujarat Minister of State for Health Kumar Kanani, state BJPchief CR Patil as well as other local MLAs and leaders withoffering of prayers.

The vials have been stored at Surat's civil hospital,from where they will be dispatched to 22 booths within thecity for inoculation of 34,000 beneficiaries, including healthcare and frontline workers, the officials said.

From the Surat regional centre, the doses will bedispatched to southern Gujarat districts of Navsari, Valsad,Tapi and Dang, they said.

The 77,000 doses that reached Rajkot by air are meantfor Rajkot, Porbandar, Dwarka, Kutch, Morbi and Jamnagardistricts.

They were received by Minister of State forAgriculture RC Faldu, who broke a coconut and offered prayerson their arrival.

The consignment that reached Vadodara is meant for thedistricts of Vadodara, Chhota Udepur, Bharuch, Narmada,Panchmahal, and Mahisagar, the officials said.

The vaccine stocks were received by local MLA andAssembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi and others.

Around 17,000 health care and frontline workers willbe covered in Vadodara city in the first phase of thevaccination drive.

The first consignment of 2,76,000 doses of the vaccinethat arrived on Tuesday are meant for the districts ofAhmedabad, Gandhinagar and Bhavnagar zones.