Covid vaccine: Guwahati receives its first consignment of COVID vaccine from Pune

A Spicejet freighter ferried over 730 Kg of cargo in 20 boxes having vaccine doses to be distributed for Assam and Meghalaya. The cargo boxes were received by the AAI cargo wing (Airports Authority of India Cargo Logistic and Allied Services Company Ltd.) AAICLAS, at the domestic cargo complex, Guwahati Airport.

M. Suresh, Regional Executive Director, AAI, North East Region said, “we are very much equipped to transport COVID vaccine to different parts of the North East Region. The LGBI Airport has been marked as the nodal point of distribution of vaccine for the region, and we will fully cooperate with all the agencies in timely distribution of the vaccine through air cargo. Our cargo wing at Guwahati has readied up its infrastructure and have marked pick up points for effective and smooth flow of consignment, he added.

A total of 20 boxes having vaccines close to 2,40,000 doses was delivered at Guwahati Airport out of which 17 are for the state of Assam and three for Meghalaya. Each box has 12,000 doses of vaccine. The flight no. SG 7715 arrived at 1658 hrs. from Pune via Kolkata and departed for Hyderabad. These boxes were handed over to the respective State Health Department for further distribution with 09 minutes of arrival.

AAI stated the cargo complex at Guwahati Airport has made all possible arrangements for smooth dispersal of vaccine for its destination. Cold storage, dedicated pick-up points, help desk, exchange points, entry-exit and sanitisation area are some of them.

Ramesh Kumar, Airport Director, LGBI Airport Guwahati said, “It’s a proud moment for all of us at AAI Guwahati that we, at North East India, have received the first batch of COVID vaccine. It is always a pleasure to be a part of such an important task for the country. We are hopeful that AAI in coordination with our stakeholders and partners, will effectively deliver vaccine doses to all state governments.

Assam has shortlisted close to 2 lakh people for the first phase vaccination, Meghalaya has shortlisted 30 thousand frontline health workers for vaccine drive.