Bhubaneswar: Denizens of Odisha can breathe a sigh of relief as the first consignment containing of Covishield vaccine prepared by Serum Institute of India (SII) reached here, Tuesday. Earlier it had been reported that the first consignment of the COVID-19 vaccine has been dispatched from Pune. This is the vaccine which has been made by Oxford University in association with AstraZeneca.
SpiceJet’s Pune-Bhubaneswar cargo flight carrying the Covishield vaccine consisting of 34 boxes and weighing over 1,200 kg arrived at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here at 3.40pm Tuesday, it was learnt.
Notably, the Odisha government’s technical advisor (COVID-19) Jayant Panda at a press conference here had earlier said that the vaccines are completely safe and effective because it has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and other regulatory authorities. The vaccine consignments that have arrived have been sent to the storage centre.
Health Department Additional Chief Secretary Pradipta Mohapatra said, “The day has finally arrived. We are fully ready for the vaccination drive scheduled to start January 16. Our officials will go to the airport to transport the vaccines to the state vaccine centre. I have written to all Collectors asking them to send insulated vans to the centre to collect their quota of the vaccine.”
Odisha has been allotted with 4.08 lakh doses of Covishield and 20,000 doses of Covaxin.
Odisha Health Director and Vaccine In-charge Dr Bijay Panigrahi said 3.33 lakh beneficiaries will be administered the vaccine in the first phase. “We aim to vaccinate 16,000 people on first day of the vaccination drive,” he informed.
PNN