BENGALURU: As January 16, the day India is set to launch its Covid-19 immunisation programme, nears, the first consignment of vaccines arrived at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on Tuesday.The consignment contained 6,47,500 doses of Covishield, the vaccine developed by Oxford University and manufactured for the Indian government by Pune-based Serum Institute of India. The consignment was taken to the old office of the state Department of Health and Family Welfare at Anand Rao Circle.
The Centre had allocated 7.95 lakh doses to Karnataka and the remainder will arrive on Wednesday and reach Belagavi. Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said, "The Union government has purchased 1.1 crore doses at Rs 210 per dose from the Serum Institute of India. This is the cheapest vaccine in the world. The Institute is supplying vaccines at a cost of Rs 231 crore.
Each dose is 0.5ml and each vial contains 10 doses. Each vial contains 5ml and can cater to 10 people. The second dose is to be given 28 days after the first one. The vaccine will generate resistance in the body and is safe."The Drugs Controller General of India granted emergency use approval for Covishield, and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin on January 3.
Sudhakar said that the vials would be marked 'Not for Sale' to prevent misuse. Beneficiaries would be kept under observation for about 30 minutes after receiving the shot to check for adverse reactions to the vaccine, he said.
As many as 6.3 lakh health workers across the state will be administered the vaccine in the first phase. In accordance with the Centre's directions, two dry runs were held in the state (January 2, January 8) to familiarise health staff with the process of administering vaccines and to check for gaps in procedure and logistics.
First consignment 54 boxes
64,750 vials
6,47,500 doses
ChAdOx1 is a chimpanzee adenovirus vaccine vector. Uses weakened adenovirus that causes common cold in chimpanzees. Adenovirus genetically changed so that it can’t grow in humans Covishield contains the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2’s spike protein