Pune, May 1 (IANS): The Kochi-based Federal Bank Ltd has donated 100 refrigerators for Covid-19 vaccine storage to Maharashtra as part of its CSR initiatives, an official spokesperson said here on Saturday.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who is also Guardian Minister for Pune, received the refrigerators and distributed them to various health care centres for the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination programme in the district.

Present on the occasion were MP Amol Kohle, MLA Chetan Tupe, top Federal Bank and other state government officials.

An official said that Covid-19 vaccines must be kept at a certain temperature for efficacy for which it needs special cooling devices to maintain the temperatures during storage.

The refrigerators have been handed over to various vaccination centres in the Pune city and other parts of the district which have geared up for the massive inoculation program of all people in the 18-44 age group from May 1.

In the latest phase, over 5.7 crore people in the state shall be vaccinated over the next few months free of cost as per a decision of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government for which the state would procure around 12 crore vaccine doses.