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The International Air Transport Association said shipping a coronavirus vaccine around the world would be “the biggest transportation challenge ever.”
The association said the operation would require the equivalent of 8,000 Boeing 747s.
There is no vaccine for Covid-19 yet, but the International Air Transport Association is already working with airlines, airports, international health authorities, and pharmaceutical companies to develop a plan to establish a global airlift.
This distribution schedule is based on the assumption that each person will need only one dose of the vaccine.
“The safe delivery of Covid-19 vaccines will be the task of the century for the international air cargo industry. But that will not happen without careful advance planning. The time to do it is now,” said Federation Executive Director Alexander of Juniac.
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Although airlines have shifted their focus to freight, with the sharp drop in passenger flights, shipping vaccines is much more complicated.
And the transport of medicines needs to maintain a temperature between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, so not all aircraft are suitable for transporting vaccines. Also, some vaccines may need to be transported in a freezing point, ruling out more aircraft.
“We know the procedures very well,” said Glenn Hughes, shipping manager at the International Air Transport Association. “What we have to do is expand them to the required size.”
Hughes added that flights to certain regions of the world, including some areas in Southeast Asia, will be badly needed, as these areas lack the capacity to produce vaccines.
Millimeter precision
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The International Air Transport Association says that distributing a vaccine in Africa would be “impossible” at this time, given the shortage of transport capacity, the size of the region and the complexity of the border crossings.
Transportation must be meticulous and requires refrigerated facilities in a network of sites to store the vaccine.
There are about 140 vaccines in the early stages of development, and about 24 vaccines are now being tested in humans in clinical trials.
The International Air Transport Association urged governments to begin careful planning now to ensure they are fully prepared when vaccines gain approval and are available for distribution.
In addition to ensuring that vaccines are handled and transported at controlled temperatures, the other important issue is safety.
The International Air Transport Association says: “Vaccines will be very valuable commodities. Arrangements must therefore be made to ensure that these shipments remain safe from tampering and theft.”
