SunstarTV Bureau: The first consignment containing vials of Covishield vaccine dispatched from Serum Institute of India in Pune reached Odisha at around 3:30 PM on Tuesday.
The vaccine Covishield landed at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar in a special SpiceJet flight.
According to Additional Chief Secretary (Health) PK Mohapatra, Odisha is receiving around 4.08 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine prepared by the SII. This apart, the State has also received a letter from the Centre regarding the dispatch of another 20,000 doses of Covaxin.
All the vaccines will be kept as per protocols at the State Vaccine Store in Bhubaneswar. Sources said by the next 48 hours, the vaccines will be distributed among all districts where it will be stored at district vaccine stores and subsequently taken in cold chains to 160 session sites for vaccination drive on January 16.
Mohapatra informed, “We have decided to administer COVID-19 vaccine as per age-groups of the healthcare workers. According to the decision, elderly health workers will be vaccinated first. Apart from this, we have decided to give priority to the districts which have a high number of COVID-19 cases”.
