The first Covid-19 Vaccine plane departs from Pune to Delhi.
Key sentence:
- The very first flight ferrying Covid-19 vaccines from Pune’s Serum Institute of India (SII) embarked at 8 a.m. and also will land at 10.15 a.m. in Delhi.
- From January 16, the Centre will begin vaccinating frontline staff against coronavirus disease.
The very first flight ferrying Covid-19 vaccines from Pune’s Serum Institute of India (SII) embarked at 8 a.m. and also will land at 10.15 a.m. in Delhi, officials aware of the developments informed.
The very first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine are being transported to Delhi by Spicejet plane SG 8937. There are at least a dozen flights planned to depart on Tuesday carrying doses of the vaccine.
The first shots of the Covishield vaccine were sent to Lohegaon Airport early Tuesday morning by three vehicles from SII’s Pune campus.
PM Modi on Vaccination:
From January 16, the Centre will begin vaccinating frontline staff against coronavirus disease. At the beginning of the world’s largest immunization campaign against coronavirus disease (Covid-19), Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that on Monday, the centre would cover the entire expense of vaccinating 30 million health care as well as frontline employees, personnel from government agencies, police and also civic bodies.
Guideline for packing and Transport of Vaccine by Centre:
Last Friday, the Centre released guidelines for both the packaging as well as transport through the air of Covid-19 vaccines, requiring airlines as well as airport authorities to ensure that the vaccines are packaged in dry ice including refrigerated materials in an attempt to preserve low temperatures ranging from -8 °C to -70 °C, which are necessary for their transport.
As per the DGCA guidelines:
According to the guidelines provided by the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), all scheduled operations currently allowed to carry hazardous goods are permitted to carry Covid-19 vaccines wrapped in dry ice in accordance with regulatory guidelines.
Elaborating about the need to carry dry ice vaccines, the DGCA indicated that it is stated that the temperature maintenance necessity for Covid-19 vaccines ranges from -8 ° C to -70 ° C and therefore the use of refrigerant material is necessary during transportation.
But why Dry ice for Transportation:
The usage of dry ice (Carbon Dioxide Solid) is the most widely used, inexpensive as well as readily available refrigerant material used in the nation for the transportation of perishable items by air, although there may be various refrigerant choices.’
Dry ice continuously sublimates (solid dry ice turns into carbon dioxide gas (COz)) under natural atmospheric pressure at temperatures greater than -78 ° C (-108.4 ° F). The convection rate of dry ice would increase at reduced pressures, while all other variables are the same,” it added.
