The government on Friday put final touches to its Covid-19 vaccine roll-out plan as it held the biggest-yet drill to perfect immunisation logistics and last-mile delivery, issued guidelines for safe air delivery of vaccines across the country, and announced a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all chief ministers on inoculation strategy on Monday.
Modi’s scheduled interaction will be the first such event after the country’s drug regulator last week approved two Covid-19 vaccines — Covishield manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII) and Covaxin by Bharat Biotech – and is expected to spell out modalities of the vaccine delivery plan honed by officials, experts and health care workers for months now.
The announcement came on a day the second vaccine dry run was carried out in 737 districts across 33 states and Union territories, and India’s aviation watchdog told airlines and airport authorities to ensure vaccines are packaged in dry ice and refrigerated material to maintain low temperatures ranging between -8° C to -70° C, essential for its transportation.
“We are in the process of ensuring that in the next few days, also in the near future, we should be able to give this vaccine to our countrymen,” said Union health minister Harsh Vardhan at a hospital in Chennai. When asked when the vaccination would start, he added, “You will get to know about it soon.”
Government officials remained tight-lipped about the schedule for the jabs, but frenetic behind-the-scenes activity, especially at airports, underlined last-minute efforts to put in place foolproof vaccine distribution strategy.
The civil aviation ministry met airlines executives and airport authorities to finalise logistics for transportation. “All arrangements have been made at airports for transportation, people are on standby and ready to carry the consignment as and when the orders are placed,” a senior official said on condition of anonymity.
At Pune airport, which will be responsible for transporting the Covishield vaccine from the SII’s godown in the city to other vaccine hubs across India, officials said they were ready to supply bulk cargo. “We are fully prepared to transport up to 500 tonne of cargo daily with the current number of flights operating. We have the equipment, manpower, aircraft and everything is ready,” said airport director Kuldeep Singh. The transportation capacity can be optimised to 1,714 tonne a day.
Covishield, developed by Oxford University and British drugmaker AstraZeneca, is expected to be the lead vaccine in India’s immunisation programme with Covaxin as a back-up in case of an emergency.
To be sure, a senior Union government official confirmed that a purchase order had not yet been signed between the government and SII, but indicated that a final settlement may be reached over the weekend. Singh said no vaccine cargo was sent to Pune airport from SII until Friday evening. “We are only awaiting the consignment to reach the airport,” he added.
In Delhi, the vaccination dry run focussed on building confidence,resolving any lingering issues and warding off the possibility of any adverse events. At each trial site, 25 beneficiaries were called to go through the mock drill for two hours beginning 9am. “Since healthcare workers would be the first to get the vaccine, we have created a site in the employee health clinic in the hospital.Our nurses are already trained for vaccination and the whole process went smoothly,” said Dr DK Sharma, medical superintendent of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Grappling with the second-highest number of infections in the world behind the United States, India has planned a mammoth exercise to immunise 1.3 billion people, beginning with 300 million frontline workers and those at highest risk, by July.
With an eye on a smooth roll-out, the government has introduced CoWIN, a digital platform that is expected to be the backbone of the vaccine delivery management system.The app will be used to provide real-time information on vaccine stock, cold storage status and help coordinate the dates and venue for vaccination with recipients.
The guidelines issued by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) state all scheduled operators currently authorised to carry dangerous goods may carry Covid-19 vaccines packed in dry ice, meeting the regulatory requirements.
In December, the civil aviation ministry had directed all airlines and airport operators, including state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI), ground handling service providers, and airlines, to put in place standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the transportation of Covid-19 vaccines.
“Carriage of Covid-19 vaccines from the manufacturing units to the place of administration gains significant importance especially in the light of the high expectations of the government(s), health care personnel and the general public. It is needless to say that amongst the various modes of transport, air transport is the most efficient option. Hence, it is imperative that air logistics provide a well-defined procedure that meets the global safety standards and requirements based on local conditions,” DGCA noted.
DGCA said all operators need to establish the maximum quantity of dry ice that can be loaded in an aircraft. Vaccines packed in dry ice should preferably be transported in the lower-deck of the cargo compartments of planes.If vaccines are stored in the passenger area,the operators will have to ensure that only flight crew, and no passengers, are allowed.
Occupants should be protected against a potential CO2 intoxication and an adequate number of CO2 detectors should be available in the cabin, the guidelines noted.The air conditioning, air supply and the distribution or ventilation system should use configurations recommended by the manufacturer, DGCA stated.
The operators will have to ensure that shipments containing vaccines shall be accepted and handled by appropriately trained personnel only.
Experts stressed on the importance of early preparedness and dry runs. “The more dry runs there are, the more the vaccinators and vaccine officers are confident in the processes,” said Dr Suneela Garg, professor, Delhi’s Maulana Azad Medical College.
