Amazon India Announces That It Will Airlift Oxygen Concentrators And BiPAP Machines Into India From Singapore

Amazon India has announced that it is collaborating with ACT Grants, Temasek Foundation, Pune Platform for Covid-19 Response (PPCR) and other partners to airlift more than 8,000 oxygen concentrators and 500 BiPAP machines from Singapore as soon as possible.

In a blog post, Amazon said that the organisations are now working closely with the government of India to accelerate the process to provide aid to India, which is now facing a massive spike in Covid-19 cases.

The post also added that all the required medical equipment—oxygen concentrators and BiPAP machines—will be donated to the hospitals, as well as public institutions to augment their capacity to help coronavirus infected patients around the country.

The first of these consignments are expected to arrive in Mumbai, while Amazon believes that the majority of the shipping will be completed by 30 April.

Amazon India’s CEO Amit Agarwal Tweeted about this initiative, named “Mission Vayu” and wrote: “In a time of severe COVID-19 impact, we stand firmly with India, deploying our global logistics network to procure & urgently airlift oxygen concentrators, while exploring other ways to help.”

Additionally, Amazon said in the blog post that it will manage the movement of these oxygen concentrators and other medical equipment from the local airport to identified hospitals, as well as verified centres.

Amazon Global SVP Agarwal said in the blog post: "We stand firmly with the country, deploying our global logistics network to urgently airlift the needed oxygen concentrators to support the nation's immediate need.”

“We continue to explore other meaningful ways to help in saving lives and are committed to support the nation in this time of crisis,” he added.

As per the post, the company is also procuring over 1,500 oxygen concentrators and other critical equipment in partnership with some non-profits such as Swasth, Concern India and organisations like ACT Grants and Sattva Consulting.

As India is reporting a record number of infection cases daily, the healthcare system is currently facing extreme pressure due to the tsunami of patients—most of them facing a sharp drop in oxygen level.

Due to such an unprecedented situation, hospitals in several states are reeling under the shortage of medical oxygen.

Meanwhile, the social media platforms are now filled with SOS calls, numbers of oxygen cylinder suppliers, posts about urgent plasma requirement and hospital beds.

But on 25 April, the Prime Minister's Office has assured people that the 551 dedicated pressure swing Adsorption (PSA) medical oxygen production plants will be set up across the country through PM Cares Fund to boost the availability of oxygen.

The Centre has also asked the already available manufacturing units to maximise the production and make it available urgently to the government for medical use.

However, apart from the e-commerce giant Amazon, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella have also vowed to support India’s battle against Covid-19.

Pichai has announced that Google will be giving ₹135 crores, while Nadella said that his company will use its resources and technology to support India.