States told to estimate and strengthen cold chain for vaccine: Health secy

In all, 29,000 cold chain points, 240 walk-in coolers, 70 walk-in freezers, 45,000 ice-lined refrigerators, 41,000 deep freezers and 300 solar refrigerators are to be used

The Central government has asked the states to assess their cold chain needs in relation to the Covid-19 vaccine doses that they would receive, cautioning the need for an infrastructure push and last-mile monitoring even as the health ministry presented an estimate of its own.

“We have asked the states that if they get a certain amount of vaccine, they need to assess at their level what their cold chain requirement would be,” said Rajesh Bhushan, secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, on Tuesday.

According to health ministry estimates, 29,000 cold chain points, 240 walk-in coolers, 70 walk-in freezers,