Mumbai: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is ready to fulfill the potential obligation to deliver the Corona vaccine to every corner of the country. The task of delivering the vaccine to remote and inaccessible areas is going to be on the army itself. Air Force Headquarters has prepared a nationwide campaign for vaccine transportation with the aim of keeping itself ready according to this assessment.
It will be implemented as soon as they get the government’s order. Air Force sources said that modalities of transport aircraft for airlifting of the vaccine, the type and number of helicopters for vaccine delivery centers and ‘last point delivery’ have been determined.
Cargo aircraft capable of carrying more loads to 28,000 cold chain centers of the vaccine such as the C-17 Globemaster, C-136J Super Hercules and IL-76 will be deployed, while workhorse AN-32 and Dornier aircraft will be used for smaller centers. Light and medium lift helicopters will be protected as a third link. Choppers such as ALH, Chinook, Cheetah and Chetak will play their roles in this.
A senior IAF officer stated that it would not be known how many cargo planes and helicopters would be involved in the mission as the requirements would be decided only after the delivery of the vaccine task force. But right now the Air Force is working on a plan to reserve more than 100 aircraft and helicopters for this mission.
The officer said that the Air Force has enough experience in vaccine transportation. Two years ago, the Air Force played an important role in bringing Measles and Rubella vaccines to the public. This work will be done in addition to the war stage, just as the Air Force has brought the currency to the banks at the time of demonetisation or the way to carry out EVMs and personnel in difficult areas during the general elections.
Group Captain Sandeep Mehta, a former IAF officer who closely monitors the relief operations, said that the task force usually keeps officers of the concerned ministries and representatives of the supporting force.
In this case, there will be a task force of representatives of Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Health and Air Force who will monitor for 24 hours that the vaccines reach the airport on time, the skilled personnel who load them in the aircraft should be present in sufficient numbers and the skilled workers taking delivery in cold chain can safely take off the boxes of the vaccines.
The vaccines will be packaged in a dry ice box from the pharmaceuticals company, but their size and handling requirements will be decided at the Air Force level.
Focus on keeping Ladakh’s strategy unaffected, the official said that while preparing this strategy, the Air Force has taken full care that the ongoing military situation in Ladakh should not have a minor impact on the supply. A roadmap is being made to give equal importance to both military and vaccine missions and deploy resources accordingly.