For the 1st time in the nation, a made-in-India drone transported Covid-19 vaccines on Monday, travelling an aerial distance of 15 km in much less than 15 minutes from the Bishnupur district hospital to the key well being care centre at Loktak lake, Karang island, in Manipur. The road distance involving these places is 26 k.m.
Launching the ICMR’s Drone Response and Outreach in North East (i-Drone), Mansukh Mandaviya, Union minister for well being and family welfare, stated it was the 1st time that a made-in-India drone was becoming applied in South Asia to transport the Covid-19 vaccine.
“Drones can be used in delivering important life-saving medicines and collecting blood samples in critical situations and in tough geographical areas,” Mandaviya stated.
The i-Drone was created to overcome vaccine delivery challenges in tough-to-attain terrains of India, by deploying unmanned aerial cars or drones to these places. Currently, the drone-based delivery project has been granted permission for implementation in Manipur, Nagaland, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
“India is home to geographical diversities and drones can be used to deliver essentials to the last mile … This technology may prove a game changer in addressing the challenges in health care delivery, particularly health supplies in difficult areas,” the minister stated.
ICMR carried out an initial study in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, to test the capacity of drones to carry and transfer vaccines safely. The study was carried out in Manipur, Nagaland, and Andaman and Nicobar.
The research offered promising final results, immediately after which the ministry of civil aviation, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and other regulatory authorities granted permission to fly drones beyond the visual line of sight.
The nation had administered 91.41 crore Covid-19 vaccines till Monday evening. There had been 20,799 new instances reported on Monday, taking the active caseload to 2,64,458. The recovery price stood at 97.89%. Weekly case positivity price was at 1.63%, when each day positivity price was 2.10%.