Drones may soon be seen delivering vaccines and life-saving drugs in remote areas of the country that will also help to ramp up the vaccination drive, said N K Arora, Chairman, Covid working group and Chief, National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.
India is easing restrictions on drone flights to facilitate their operations over a wider area, making it feasible for operators to use them for purposes such as delivery.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is conducting a feasibility study of COVID-19 vaccine delivery using drones in collaboration with the India Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
According to the sources, IIT, Kanpur has already submitted their study on drones. "India was preparing for this right from last year, this study was initiated sometime later part of the second half of 2020, when it was thought that reaching up to remote areas whether these are tribal areas or even north eastern or hill areas where taking vaccine take a long time particularly cold chain has to be maintained and amount is very small as very few people stay there", said Dr N K Arora, Chief, National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.
"This study was done in partnership with various IIT institutions to see its feasibility. I am happy that the results are available. We should reach up to those areas where it is difficult to reach and drones can be used for delivery of vaccines. This study also shows that life saving drugs...can also be delivered in short time to remote or inaccessible areas," he added.
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