Mumbai airport begins vaccine transportation; 2,400 vials airlifted to Goa

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.