BREAKING: 'Covishield' for Assam & Meghalaya arrives at LGBI Airport

GUWAHATI: Coronavirus vaccine 'Covishield' for the states of Assam and Meghalaya arrived today at LGBI Airport in Guwahati at 5 pm via Spicejet flight number SG 7451.

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According to reports, the first batches of Covishield, the Serum Institute of India's coronavirus vaccine, left Pune early this morning for Delhi and 12 other cities.

The government has said that 30 crore people - starting with health workers and frontline workers like the police, civil defense personnel, and sanitation workers - will be administered the vaccine in the first phase.

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Nine flights are operating from Pune with 56.5 lakh doses to 13 locations today. The vaccines will be delivered at Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Shillong, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Chandigarh.

The Indian government has ordered 1.01 crore doses of Covishield and plans to buy a total of 5.60 crore doses by April, at ₹ 200 per dose.

It needs mention here that Assam's Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has confirmed that the first phase of the vaccination drive shall begin on January 16, after the end of the popular folk festival, Bihu.

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