GUWAHATI: 1000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine got wasted while being kept under preservation in the Silchar Medical College & Hospital.
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The vaccines got destroyed sue to accumulation of ice as they were kept below the optimal temperature necessary for preservation. The doses were stored below 14 degrees Celsius.
Following the incident, Dr PK Rai, who is in charge of the vaccine at SMCH, has been summoned by the health department.
Health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that the medical staff will have to be properly trained again if the cause of the incident is found to be lack of knowledge. However, measures have to be taken if the untoward incident happened due to carelessness.
Assam received 2,21,500 doses of the vaccine. Of these 2,01,500 are of 'Covishield' of the Serum Institute of India, and 20,000 doses are of 'Covaxin' developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca Plc and Bharat Biotech International.
The first phase of vaccination drive on 1.9 lakh health workers has already started from 16th January last.