A consignment of 18,500 Covid19 vaccines to be used in the first phase of Covid19 vaccination safely arrived in Aizawl on Thursday.
State immunization officer Dr. Lalzawmi said 18,500 doses of Covishield vaccines were airlifted from Delhi via Kolkata and landed safely at Lengpui Airport, from where the consignment was taken to a vaccination store at Aizawl civil hospital under tight security.
She said a section of the consignment was dispatched to Lunglei in the southern part of the state in the afternoon under police escort.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the first phase of Covid19 vaccination drive across the country on Saturday.
In the first phase, high-risk groups like healthcare workers and frontline workers, who are estimated to be about 3 crore, will be given priority.
They will be followed by people, above 50 years of age and the under-50 population groups with co-morbidities numbering around 27 crore.
According to Lalzawmi, who is also the state spokesperson on Covid19 vaccination drive, a total of 14,607 health workers, including 315 central healthcare workers, have been registered to receive Covid19 vaccines in the state.
She said the state government has set up an additional vaccination site at Zoram Medical College (ZMC) near Aizawl on the direction of the Centre apart from the existing four.
The government earlier set up four vaccination sites at Aizawl Civil Hospital, Lunglei Civil Hospital, Kulikawn Sub-District Hospital and Urban Public Health Centre at ITI Veng in Aizawl, where the first roll-out of Covid19 vaccine will be conducted.
Lalzawmi said 500 beneficiaries, 100 each in five vaccination sites, will be vaccinated during the first roll-out on Saturday between 10 am and 5 pm.
She further said prominent doctors, nurses, employees of government and private hospitals and ambulance drivers will be given priority on the launching day.
The Covid19 vaccines will be given in two doses at an interval of 28 days.
The state health department said more than 8,000 beneficiaries are to be covered in the first phase of the vaccination drive.