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India faces cold chain logistics challenge for Covid-19 vaccination The nation with the world's second-highest infections plans to use the existing cold chain network in place for its Universal Immunization Program
India hopes to start rolling out a Covid-19 vaccine by March 2021, but it faces a steep challenge: cold chain and distribution infrastructure. The nation with the world’s second-highest infections plans to use the existing cold chain network in place for its Universal Immunization Program, said Rajesh Bhushan, secretary to India’s federal health ministry, in an email interview. But that infrastructure is geared to only immunize children and pregnant women -- vaccinating India’s 1.3 billion people will require its capacities to be significantly scaled up, experts say.
“The entire existing cold chain capacity is inadequate for existing vaccination programs,” said T. Sundararaman, New Delhi-based coordinator of the People’s Health Movement, an organization that works with academics and civil society. “Your investment in cold chains needs to be to the order of five to 10 times what you’re doing now. That level of cold equipment -- to procure, to distribute, to allocate, to function, to train itself is a big undertaking.” India has said it’s looking at the various Coronavirus vaccines being manufactured both domestically and abroad -- including those being developed by Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. -- in addition to AstraZeneca Plc’s shot to be produced by the world’s largest vaccine maker Serum Institute of India Ltd...