MUMBAI, Jan 13, 2021 (BSS/PTI) – COVID-19 vaccine transportation from
Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) commenced
on Wednesday with budget carrier GoAir airlifting 2,400 vials of Covishield
to Goa.
The Wadia Group-owned no-frills airline has scheduled flights carrying
vaccines to Lucknow, Cochin and Chandigarh as well, besides Goa, during the
day, a GoAir spokesperson told PTI.
GoAir’s first flight carrying 2,400 vials (24,000 doses) of Covishield
vaccine took off at 5.20 am and reached Goa at 6.30 am, the spokesperson
said.
A massive pan-India inoculation drive against COVID-19 was set in process
on Tuesday with more than 56 lakh doses of the Covishield vaccine leaving
Pune for 13 cities across the country, four days before the vaccinations are
scheduled to begin on January 16.
Covishield is developed by Oxford University and British-Swedish company
AstraZeneca and manufactured by Pune-based pharma firm Serum Institute of
India (SII).
GoAir said it will airlift a total of 69,600 vials of the vaccine.
Mumbai airport, which is the “largest pharma hub”, is looking to cater to
at least 16 destinations in the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccines, the
private airport operator had said in a statement to PTI on Tuesday.