COVID-19: Centre Consults With States/Union Territories For Cold Chain Storage Of Vaccine

New Delhi: In order to augment the cold-chain requirement for the storage of COVID-19 vaccine, the Union Health Ministry in consultation with states/Union Territories has assessed the additional requirement for cold-chain storage facilities like walk-in coolers, walk-in freezers, deep freezers and ice-lined refrigerators. “As vaccines are temperature sensitive and these required to be stored at a specific temperature, we estimated the need for additional equipment for the state government/UTs. We are in the process of procuring and supplying them. And the first supply of such additional would start from December 10,” the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said.

Also Read: Luxembourg Firm To Set Up Cold Chain Facility For COVID-19 Vaccine At Gujarat

Presently, the cold-chain system consists of 85,634 equipment for storage of vaccine at about 28,947 cold chain points across the country.

The current cold-chain is capable of storing additional quantities of COVID-19 vaccine required for the first 3 crore healthcare workers and front-line workers.

Stating that the Union government has also made implementation preparedness, Mr. Bhushan said,

Additional procurement for syringes, needles and others is also on track. Implementation of SOPs (Standard of Procedures) in the final stages and we have shared with the state government for their comments. Training materials are being finalised and detailed implementation plans will be finalised with state governments in coming days.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday (December 8) said that there are six COVID-19 vaccine candidates in different clinical trial stages being developed by various manufacturers in India.

Besides this, three COVID-19 vaccine candidates are in the pre-clinical stage of which one of the coronavirus vaccine candidates is in the pre-development stage being researched by Aurobindo Pharma, the official said.

Also Read: Six COVID-19 Vaccine Candidates In Different Clinical Trial Stage In India, Three In Pre-Clinical Stage: Union Health Secretary

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.