The 1,700km journey to deliver COVID-19 vaccine to India's rural health workers

Arduous task of packing vaccine vials to keep them at low temperatures for up to 3 days

Published: January 25, 2021 11:42 Compiled by Nathaniel Lacsina, Senior Web Editor

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Armed polilce stand guard at the state vaccine storage. From factory to faraway village: behind Indias mammoth vaccination drive In Bhubaneswar, capital of India's mineral rich but impoverished eastern state of Odisha, Authorities began the arduous task of counting and packing COVID-19 vaccine vials to keep them at between 2-8 degrees Celsius for up to three days. Image Credit: Reuters

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A health department employee counts vials of the vaccine. It fell on veteran health department driver Lalu Porija, who had driven his delivery van all night to reach the storage site, to truck them some 500 kilometres back to Koraput, guarded by an armed policeman. Image Credit: Reuters

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Healthcare workers at the state store pack the vaccine developed by Oxford/AstraZeneca into a box before being transported to a regional vaccine store. Image Credit: Reuters

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Healthcare workers at the state store pack the vaccine. Image Credit: Reuters

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A police stand guard as health workers pack up the vaccine. Image Credit: Reuters

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Health workers pack up the vaccine. Image Credit: Reuters

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Health care workers carry a box containing the vaccine. Image Credit: Reuters

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A health department driver washes a vaccine van before transporting the vaccine. Image Credit: Reuters

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A van delivers the vaccine developed by Oxford/AstraZeneca at Mathalput Community Health Centre. Image Credit: Reuters

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A woman carries a boy in Pendajam village in Koraput, India. Image Credit: Reuters

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Health workers store the vaccine developed by Oxford/AstraZeneca inside a refrigerator at Mathalput Community Health Centre, in Koraput, India. Image Credit: Reuters

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Reena Jani, 34, a health worker, waits to receive the vaccine developed by Oxford/AstraZeneca at Mathalput Community Health Centre. Image Credit: Reuters

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Jani's name was on a list of 100 health workers at Mathalput Community Health Centre, making her one of the first Indians to be inoculated against COVID-19 earlier this month, as the country rolls out a vaccination programme the government calls the world's biggest. Image Credit: Reuters

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But she had heard rumours of serious side effects and worried about what would happen were she to get ill. "I was frightened because of my son and daughters. If something happens to me, what will they do?" Jani said. Image Credit: Reuters

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