AstraZeneca COVID Vaccine Arrives in Antarctica

Nine months after it was rolled out, the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine has finally reached the Antarctic.

It was flown in this week to immunize the 23 staff members who've been keeping the British Rothera research station running through the polar winter.

This is the most southerly despatch yet for the jabs developed at Oxford University.

Apart from some cases at a Chilean base, Antarctica has been Covid-free.

The international science agencies want to keep it that way.

As the new summer research season approaches, strict health protocols will again be in place.

And all the while, the doses had to be kept at their required 2-8C storage temperature in a special transport container.

A small Twin Otter plane was used for the final leg into the British Antarctic Survey's (BAS) Rothera base on Tuesday.

A first dose of the AZ vaccine is now in the arms of the station's scientists, engineers and support staff, administered by the doctor on site. The second jab will be given in four weeks' time. (BBC)