2.64 lakh Covid vaccine doses reach Rajiv Gandhi hospital in Delhi

New Delhi, Jan 12 As many as 2.64 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine, which landed in Delhi earlier on Tuesday, later reached the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH), Delhi's only vaccine storage facility, officials told .

The hospital has received the first consignment of 'Covishield' vaccine which arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport on Tuesday morning.

The officials said that 22 boxes containing 26,400 vials have been stored in the RGSSH.

"Total 22 boxes of vaccines have been received here. Each box contains 1200 vials and each vial has 10 doses," a senior doctor from the hospital told .

The doctors at the hospital informed that they are waiting for directions for further rollout.

The Delhi government-run RGSSH is among the key Covid-19 facilities in the national capital, which is also doubling up as the vaccine storage house. From here, the vaccine doses would be distributed to 89 sites in the national capital, chosen for the first phase of the immunisation drive meant for healthcare workers.

The sites include government and private hospitals. AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, LNJP Hospital, GTB Hospital, Apollo Hospitals and Max Hospital will be among the vaccination centres here.

The RGSSH has undertaken robust preparations for the storage of the vaccine, which will first be used to innoculate around 3 lakh health workers in Delhi before other priority groups are immunised.

The officials informed that the vaccines will be stored in a three storey building covering an area of 4,700 square feet, located in a relatively secluded corner of the campus.

Ahead of the arrival of doses, the facility was taken over by the Delhi government's Directorate of Family Welfare.

The officials told that even the hospital staff is not allowed to enter the building without permission from the government.

The officials involved in the process said that the vaccines would be stored on the ground and first floor of the facility while the third floor will be used to keep the syringes and other essentials required for the vaccination.

A total of 90 deep refrigerators have been installed there to store the vaccine in a temperature range of 2-8 degrees Celsius.

The aviation ministry informed earlier in the day that 9 flights from Pune carrying 56.5 lakh doses will be operated to 13 locations across the country on Tuesday. The locations include Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Shillong, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Chandigarh.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved two vaccines "Covishield by Pune-based SII and Covaxin by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Limited" for emergency use authorisation (EUA) against Covid-19 in the country.

( With inputs from IANS )