Karnataka receives first consignment of Covid-19 vaccines

Karnataka received 6,47,500 doses of Covishield vaccine at its state vaccine store here on Tuesday.

While this landed at the Kempegowda International Airport here, another consignment of an additional 1,47,000 doses will reach Belagavi by road on Wednesday.

Rahul Agarwal, managing director of Kool-Ex Cold Chain Limited, whose truck is being used for the transport of vaccines, confirmed to DH that ‘the truck has already moved.’

Officials of the immunisation wing in the state health department cheered and clapped as Arundhati Chandrashekar, director, National Health Mission, Karnataka, opened the troop carrier loaded with 54 boxes, weighing 1,728 kg, containing 64,750 vials. Each 5 ml vial contains 10 doses.

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The entry gate of the storage facility was fortified with dozens of police personnel to keep the public and media out. As the vaccine store is located in the old health department office, with empty rooms and no active security, the department has arranged for police personnel to guard at night, said Dr Rajani Nageshrao, deputy director, immunisation, department of Health and Family Welfare. She said distribution of vaccines to other districts from the state vaccine store will begin on Wednesday. By January 16, the vaccines have to reach 233 vaccine sites in the state that have been selected for the live webcast link with the national vaccine launch.

Short shelf life

The information on the vials stated the manufacturing date as November 3, 2020, and expiry date as May 1, 2021. All the other 11 vaccines in the routine immunisation programme have a shelf life of not less than a year.

Asked about the short shelf life, top vaccine scientist and microbiologist Dr Gagandeep Kang explained that all vaccines have a shelf life based on the stability of the vaccine as studied by the company and approved by the regulator.

“Considering that the manufacturer started development only in June and had only six months’ time to check the stability, the expiry date has been set to May. As time passes, they will have more time to check the stability and extend the expiry date,” she said.

The vials, once opened, have to be used within six hours. There will be 10 vials to vaccinate 100 people and they should be opened only after the beneficiaries have got the OTPs on their phones.

“If the hospitals say they do not have the authority to administer the vaccine without the OTP from the Co-WIN software on the beneficiary’s phone, then opening the vial beforehand will be a problem as the doses have to be administered within six hours. The vaccination site should make sure 10 beneficiaries have already received the OTP before opening the vial. Else, it will lead to wastage,” Kang said.