A SpiceJet flight carrying the vaccine batch landed at the Delhi airport around 10 am on Tuesday, four days ahead of the launch of a nationwide drive against the coronavirus. Thereafter, the Delhi Police formed a “green corridor” to safely transport the vials to the hospital, the Delhi government’s largest COVID-19 facility.
“The truck carrying the vaccines arrived at the hospital around 3:10 pm,” a source said.
A special cold storage facility has been created at RGSSH to store the vaccine vials.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport) Rajeev Ranjan said adequate security arrangements have been made at the storage site, and Police Control Room (PCR) vans will also cover them in their patrolling plans.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahadra) Amit Sharma said, “We have deployed the personnel at the storage area of the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital.”
Earlier, officials said more than 2.54 lakh doses of Covishield, developed by Oxford University and British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, will be delivered at RGSSH.
“The storage facility at RGSSH can stock up to about 50,000 vaccine vials, and all arrangements have been made there to keep it in a temperature-controlled environment,” a senior official had said.
From there, it will be transported in a special vehicle under heavy security to the vaccination centres.
The Delhi government has chosen 89 sites in the national capital, including government and private hospitals, for the first phase of the immunisation drive meant for about three lakh healthcare workers.
