By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, MAY 06, 2021: THE Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Thursday issued guidelines to facilitate the expeditious COVID-19 vaccination programme for aviation personnel working in public as well as private entities.

As per the guidelines, MoCA sent a letter earlier to all States to consider aviation personnel as a priority group under the vaccination programme to ensure unhindered service for the movement of people and essential cargo.

All players in the civil aviation sector have been advised to cover their personnel under the ongoing vaccination programme. Organisations which have already made arrangements with government or private vaccine providers may continue to do so.

A dedicated vaccination facility will be established by the airport operators in their respective airports to facilitate the vaccination coverage of staff involved in aviation or related services, including contractual and casual workers.

The cost per vaccination dose can be decided by the airport operator with the service provider. These facilities would be available for all aviation sector stakeholders at the same cost.

Priority during vaccination should be given to the Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs), cockpit and cabin crews of the airlines, mission-critical and passenger-facing staff.

The guidelines said that the chairman of Airports Authority of India (AAI) will hold regular meetings to review the progress and coordinate with MoCA and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to address issues and challenges such as vaccine availability.