The Indian Air Force has said it will ensure that transportation of Covishield vaccine is not be disrupted during a planned 14-day closure of the Pune International Airport's runway. The airport here in Maharashtra will remain closed from October 16 to 29 as the IAF will be undertaking runway resurfacing work, the airport authorities informed on Tuesday. The aerodrome is part of the the Air Force's Lohegaon base.

"During the period of complete closure of the runway, the IAF will ensure airlift of vaccines from Pune to Mumbai by deploying suitable IAF assets for the purpose to ensure uninterrupted supply chain," the IAF said in a statement on Wednesday. The Pune-headquartered Serum Institute of India (SII) has collaborated with the Oxford University and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for manufacturing the Covishield vaccine against coronavirus.