Covid vaccine:transportation & distribution plan is ready

So after a long wait, anxiety and expectations, the Covid vaccine is going to be here. There are plans to store and transport it all over the country, and distribute and administer it as per priority. As it is with big projects, there may be excitement, thrill and also hiccups now and then, but there’s no doubt that it will bring another big change in our lives.

The AAILAS (Airports Authority of India Logistics and Allied Services Limited) will be the nodal body for coordinating air transportation of the vaccines across 41 key cities. Focus will be on Karnal, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. Each of these has a Government Medical Stores Depot. Once the vaccines dispatched by the manufacturing companies reach these big depots, they will be forwarded to 37 state depots. Further distribution to district depots and Primary Health Centres will follow.

Pune is going to be a major centre for the activities because of the manufacturer Serum Institute of India. Speaking to reporters in Pune, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope urged the Centre to provide vaccines free of charge to people below poverty line. He said that cold storage facilities and supply chains are being set up in the state and Maharashtra will join the nationwide dry run on January 8. A dedicated 24x7 call centre has also been established for technical queries of Co-WIN users. The cold chain infrastructure along with sufficient supplies of syringes and other logistics have been ensured to begin COVID-19 vaccination drive.
Around one lakh 70 thousand vaccinators and three lakh vaccination team members have been trained on the process to be followed at the vaccination sites. This includes beneficiary verification, vaccination, cold chain and logistics management, bio-medical waste management and reporting on Co-WIN software.