The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Friday allowed the Telangana government to use drones for the delivery of vaccines within the visual line of sight.

The ministry said it has granted conditional exemption to the Telangana government from the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021. This exemption will be valid for one year or until further orders.

However, the ministry did not mention which particular vaccine will be part of this experimental delivery.

India has so far administered 15,22,45,179 coronavirus doses. As many as 22,24,548 shots were given on Thursday alone.

India will begin its third phase of immunisation from Saturday, covering all those above 18 years of age. Over 90 lakh people registered for the third phase on Thursday, the second day after registrations opened. So far, more than 2.28 crore people have registered themselves for getting vaccinated. However, those who have registered have not been able to book a vaccination appointment for themselves.

Several states have said that they do not have enough vaccines to inoculate residents between the age group of 18-44, indicating that they are likely to miss the launch of the immunisation programme. Telangana is one of the states that have said vaccinations will be delayed for adults.

However, the Centre has repeatedly denied that there is any vaccine shortage.

Also read:

Coronavirus: Several states unlikely to begin third phase of vaccination on May 1. Here’s a list