The government will make extensive use of the transport aircraft fleet of the Air Force, including the C-130J and Antonov-32 cargo aircraft, to supply the two authorised coronavirus vaccines to all parts of India.
Specialised containers have been prepared by the vaccine manufacturers and suppliers to keep the vaccines at the desired temperatures during transportation of the vaccine for 24 hours, top government officials.
The Indian Air Force will also use its exclusive military airfields and advanced landing grounds for transporting the vaccine to the remotest part of the country including places like Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh, they said.
Officials said the major part of transportation by air will be done by commercial airliners, they said. The Air Force will also be providing landing facilities to commercial airliners at the military airfields where commercial planes don’t operate, the officials stated.
The Air Force transport aircraft will be used for flying vaccines to remote airfields and advanced landing grounds in states such as Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh.
The force will also use its helicopter fleet to take the vaccine to the remotest locations. The discussions on the transportation of vaccines are still going on and details are being finalised in this regard, the officials said.
Two vaccines have been approved by the government agencies for restricted emergency use — Covishield and Covaxin. The armed forces have also identified hospitals for administering the vaccine to its personnel.