Tamil Nadu receives first supply of COVID-19 vaccines

Tamil Nadu acquired its first supply of COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday.

Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan mentioned the State was allotted 5,56,500 doses of COVID-19 vaccines — 5,36,500 doses of Covishield vaccine and 20,000 doses of Covaxin.

The vaccines arrived on the Chennai airport from Pune at about 10.30 a.m. The vaccines within the first part will likely be saved on the State Vaccine Store on the premises of the Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services (DMS).

A GoAir flight carrying 59 packing containers of Covishield vaccine left from Pune airport at 8.45 a.m. and landed in Chennai airport at 10.25 a.m. Each of these packing containers include 1,200 vials.

Airports Authority of India Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Limited has been assigned to observe the cargo of vaccines from Pune to numerous cities within the nation together with Chennai. Officials of the Airports Authority of India mentioned, this cargo weighed almost 1.8 tonne and shortly after arrival, it was shifted to the autos organized by the State authorities and left the airport.

A joint director of the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine was appointed to hold out work to move the vaccines from the airport. From the DMS campus, the vaccines could be transported to 10 storage services from the place it might be dispatched to districts. The district-wise chilly chain factors are prepared. A complete of 45 autos have been prepared to move the vaccines to the well being unit districts.

Work to dispatch the vaccines to the districts would start later within the night. The Health Secretary mentioned that 2,000 vaccine centres have been readied within the State. The vaccines could be administered as two doses. As per Central authorities pointers, healthcare employees and frontline employees would first obtain the vaccine.