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SINGAPORE: On Monday (December 21), 31 boxes of COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Singapore.
The first shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine arrived from Belgium and landed at Changi Airport on Monday night.
The valuable vials were then headed to SATS Coolport’s refrigerated warehouse before being loaded onto a truck for delivery to an undisclosed location in Singapore.
READ: First shipment of COVID-19 vaccines arrives in Singapore
How are vaccines taken from your place of production to a hospital or clinic for injection into your arm? Here’s a rough guide to your journey through the cold chain:
PUURS, BELGIUM TO SINGAPORE
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines came directly from a manufacturing site in Puurs, Belgium, and were protected by security escorts as they headed to Brussels International Airport, logistics services firm DHL said.
The vaccine was packed on dry ice in thermal transport boxes designed to keep the vials at -70 degrees Celsius, which is colder than Antarctica in winter.
The boxes were then loaded onto a Singapore Airlines (SIA) Boeing 747-400 freighter, which departed from Brussels on Sunday evening. They reached the Changi Airport runway at 7.36pm.
WHY SOUTH POLE TEMPERATURES ARE NEEDED
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, as well as the one produced by Moderna, are made from genetic material called mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid).
While they can be produced faster than traditional vaccines, they must be stored at very low temperatures because mRNA is easily destroyed. Drug manufacturers have coated the modified mRNA with lipid nanoparticles, but it has yet to be frozen.
READ: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Sinovac: A Look at Three Key COVID-19 Vaccines
Pfizer’s vaccine should be stored at -70 degrees Celsius and lasts for only five days at standard refrigerator temperatures. Moderna’s vaccine can be stored at -20 degrees Celsius and lasts for 30 days in the refrigerator.
In contrast, a traditional vaccine made from a weakened or inactivated virus, such as Sinovac’s, can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius and can remain stable for up to three years.
DRY ICE AND TEMPERATURE TRACKERS
To make sure the vaccines stayed cool, GPS temperature trackers monitored the temperature and location of each box. Dry ice is required to maintain the deep freeze temperature at which fragile Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines must be maintained.
It means the boxes don’t need to be transported in a freezer, as the packaging they come in can keep them intact for up to 10 days unopened, according to Pfizer.
Singapore’s first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines is unloaded at Changi Airport on December 21, 2020 (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Once delivered, Pfizer thermal chargers can be used as temporary storage for up to one month if the dry ice is refilled every five days.
This is why Singapore’s dry ice providers anticipate increased demand for their services.
Dry ice suppliers in Singapore are receiving a series of pre-orders from pharmaceutical logistics firms to keep COVID-19 vaccines cold on the go, as the first batch is scheduled to arrive this month. Nisha Rahim finds out more.
Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung said Monday that the land operator SATS can now produce up to 4 tons of dry ice a day.
FRIDGES ON WHEELS, IN THE AIR
Ong said that to prepare for the logistical challenge of transporting the vaccines, airlines, logistics companies and freight forwarders started the Changi Ready Task Force a few months ago to begin solving any potential problems before the vaccines were in production.
READ: Singapore May Be Air Freight Hub for COVID-19 Vaccines – Changi Airport, CAAS
SATS, for example, has invested in cold carts – refrigerated containers that can transport goods from cargo planes to warehouses.
On Monday, the first shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines arrived at the SATS Coolport shortly after 8 p.m., about half an hour after the plane landed. They were separated into three batches and immediately taken to a refrigerated truck for delivery.
Singapore’s First COVID-19 Vaccine Shipment at SATS Coolport on December 21, 2020 (Photo: Chew Hui Min)
The Changi Ready Task Force has said they are more than prepared to store and transport vaccines at the required temperatures.
A Thermo truck and a reefer container unit docked at the Kuehne + Nagel logistics center in Pioneer Crescent. (Photo: Calvin Oh)
The logistics centers here, like this one run by the Kuehne + Nagel company, for example, have isolated loading and unloading docks for temperature-controlled trucks, ensuring that products are not exposed to hot temperatures outside. Capacity is not an issue, as each truck can hold up to 1.5 million doses of vaccines.
Carriers also use active containers to maintain the temperature of the vaccines. Fully charged Envirotainers can last 100 hours and are primarily used for international air cargo shipping.
Workers examining temperature controlled containers. (Photo: Calvin Oh)
Mr. Jens Drewes, President of Kuehne + Nagel Asia Pacific, noted that the availability of ancillary equipment such as vaccine vials, syringes, and alcohol wipes are just as crucial for vaccine administration.
DEFROST BEFORE USE
When the deep-frozen vaccine reaches a healthcare facility, it must be thawed and diluted before use.
It can then be kept at room temperature for a few hours. Each vial of Pfizer-BioNTech contains five doses of vaccine.
FILE PHOTO: Pharmacy Manager Larren Suh prepares a dose of Pfizer-BioNTech Coronavirus Disease Vaccine (COVID-19) at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 16 de December 2020. Craig F. Walker / Pool via REUTERS / File Photo
Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, vice dean of Global Health and head of the infectious disease program at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said that if hospitals or clinics cannot keep vaccines at the required ultra-low temperature, they will have to work. Create a vaccination schedule so they can use all the vials they receive within five days.
For the Moderna vaccine, most hospitals and some clinics here will have -20 degrees Celsius freezers, so there will be fewer logistical problems, he added.
POTENTIAL BOTTLES
Associate Professor Goh Puay Guan from the National University of Singapore Business School said that vaccine distribution in Singapore does not face many problems as cold chain capacities are in place and transport distances are not. They’re too big.
“If there are any issues, it could be due to potential bottlenecks in the global supply chain during the first few months, as vaccine manufacturing and logistics capacity is still increasing and being rolled out,” he said.
He explained that a large amount of cargo was traditionally carried in the holds of passenger aircraft, and the decline in passenger traffic at the beginning of the year also affected the availability of air cargo capacity.
The shortage of air transport capacity is compounded by increased consumer demand and online shopping during the Christmas season. However, many airlines have converted their older airliners to full cargo aircraft by removing passenger seats in order to increase air cargo capacity.
SIA has said it is ready to deploy seven freighters and 200 passenger jets for vaccine delivery.
A Singapore Airlines cargo pellet containing Singapore’s first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines is unloaded from the aircraft on December 21, 2020 (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Another thing to consider is the need for large amounts of dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) to maintain the temperature of the cold boxes.
“There are regulations on how much dry ice can be allowed on an airplane, as too much carbon dioxide is dangerous to human health,” Associate Professor Goh said.
SIA said it is measuring the rate at which dry ice from coolers turns into carbon dioxide on its flights.
DHL has estimated that up to 200,000 pallet carriers and 15 million cooler boxes, as well as 15,000 flights will be needed to deliver vaccines around the world over the next two years.
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