COVID Innovation: Drones To Be Used For Vaccine Delivery In This State

The Telangana government has received the go-ahead for experimental delivery of vaccines using drones.

Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA) tweeted on Friday that the Telangana government had “sought exemption from Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021 for delivery of vaccines on 9th March 2021 while the DGCA accorded approval on 26th April 2021.”

MOCA informed that the nod is for delivery within the Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) range for a year.

The main idea behind Telangana’s ‘Medicine From the Sky’ (MFTS) trials is to transport vaccine vials to remote locations in distant districts.

“The plan for MFTS shall involve undertaking BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) flights in Vikarabad district of Telangana with the Area Hospital as the take-off site and various PHCs (public health centres and sub-centres as the landing sites,” said a statement from Telangana IT Department.

“Each drone would carry a combination of dummy vials and regular vaccines over the course of the trials and the performance would be recorded in detail and this data shall be used to guide further policies regarding full-scale adoption,” the statement further said.