Coronavirus vaccine: First consignment Bharat Biotech's Covaxin arrives in Delhi

New Delhi, Jan 13: The first consignment of Covaxin by Bharat Biotech, being brought from Hyderabad to Indira Gandhi International Airport , Delhi on an Air India flight AI559. Three boxes of Covaxin being taken to Kurukshetra in Haryana.

Bharat Biotech aims to dispatch around 55 lakh vaccines to 11 states in the initial phase, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Lucknow, Chennai and Jaipur.

Covaxin is being indigenously developed by Bharat Biotechin collaboration with the Indian Council ofMedical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology(NIV).

Theindigenous, inactivated vaccineis developed andmanufactured inBharatBiotech's BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) bio-containment facility, the firm had earlier said.

The government on Monday had placed orders in advanced commitments for over 6 crore doses of COVID vaccine from SII and Bharat Biotech for inoculating 3 crore healthcare and frontline workers in the first phase of the vaccination drive scheduled to start from January 16.

The vaccine programme in the country has started andthe airports cargo division is gearing up to meet thedemands as the city is the vaccine hub of the world, the official added.