India recognizes its important role in the global supply of seafarers and has established vaccination centers in six major ports, and crew members have begun to receive COVID-19 vaccination.
These six ports include Mumbai Port Trust, Cochin Port Trust, Chennai Port Trust, Visakhapatnam Port Trust, Kolkata Port Trust and Tuticorin Port Trust, according to a government statement, a private hospital in Kerala was also used to vaccinate seafarers.
The initiative to prioritize vaccinations against COVID-19 for seafarers was launched after the recent intervention by the Ministry of Health. The country has been at the center of global COVID-19 concerns, because India has recently faced a variant of COVID-19, and many countries have banned the entry of ships that have docked at Indian ports.
The Indian authorities have been working hard to involve local governments and include seafarers on their "priority" lists. Kerala, Tamilnadu and Goa have recognized this status of seafarers.
At the same time, seafarers’ associations and associations such as MASSA, FOSMA and NUSI have also successfully organized special vaccination camps.