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Covid-19 vaccine journey takes off; 5.6 mn doses were shipped to 13 cities

The jabs will be administered beginning January 16

Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India, covid, coronavirus, vaccine
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Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India, before the first shipment of Covishield leaves the firm’s Pune plant. Photo: twitter/Adar Poonawalla

BS Reporters Pune/ New Delhi/ Mumbai/ Bengaluru
Three temperature-controlled trucks filled with Covid-19 vaccine vials pulled out of Serum Institute’s production plant in Pune at 5 a.m on Tuesday, marking the start of a mega immunization drive in the country. The jabs will be administered beginning January 16.  

The trucks that headed to the Pune Airport were specially designed containers equipped with sensors monitoring location, temperature, light exposure and unusual jolting. The first flight to ship out the vaccine to  Delhi was a SpiceJet Boeing-737 carrying 22 boxes.  Each box weighing 32 kg contained around 12,000 doses of Covishield vaccines and gel packs- a portable plastic bag filled