Drone Delivers Vaccine In Manipur, India First To Do So In Southeast Asia
NDTV
The country's top medical body ICMR successfully delivered the jabs from Manipur's Bhishnupur via Loktak Lake to the Karang Island.
A drone delivered vaccines to people living in Manipur's 'floating islands' in Loktak Lake, making India the first nation in Southeast Asia to send vaccines in an unmanned aerial craft. 'Floating islands' are chunks of hardened algae that float in the freshwater lake in Manipur's Moirang district.
The country's top medical body ICMR successfully delivered the jabs from Manipur's Bhishnupur via Loktak Lake to the Karang Island. Officials plan to deliver vaccines to two more districts of Manipur with drones in the coming days.
The fully 'Made-in-India' drone flew from the Bishnupur District Hospital in automatic mode and reached the Karang Health Centre, nearly 31 km away, in just 15 minutes, officials told NDTV. By road, this journey is almost four hours long.
"Addressed launch of ICMR's initiative for 'drone-based vaccine delivery system' in North-Eastern India. Covering 31 km in 15 minutes, vaccines were transported from Bishnupur District Hospital to Karang Health Centre, Loktak Lake, Manipur. This distance usually takes 3-4 hours," Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted.
