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SCHIPHOL AIRPORT, The Netherlands: In the cavernous cold stores of Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, KLM workers are preparing for a surge next year in shipments of COVID-19 vaccines that will need to move around the world in ultra-low temperatures .
Schiphol, a major pharmaceutical hub, has already handled some of the vaccines used in the trials and the head of KLM is confident that its “cold chain” operations will cope with the influx of shipments as inoculations massive start in earnest.
“In short, yes, we are ready,” KLM Chief Executive Pieter Elbers told Reuters. “Obviously, for both societies and our industry, it is of utmost importance that these vaccines are delivered at the fastest rate possible.”
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While US or European regulators have yet to approve any COVID-19 vaccines, the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is the most advanced in the process and could be ready for rapid production and distribution next month.
But it must be stored and shipped at -70 degrees Celsius, while Moderna’s candidate must be kept at -20 ° C, at least until the drugs have reached their destination, where they can survive in normal refrigerators for short periods.
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Allowed behind strict security at Schiphol on Wednesday, Reuters watched Air France-KLM staff prepare four active containers for a shipment of refrigerated pharmaceuticals bound for Toronto in Canada.
The portable coolers are being transported at Schiphol Airport as Air France-KLM cargo operations are preparing a massive logistics operation transporting new vaccines and vaccine candidates for COVID-19 through Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. November 25, 2020. REUTERS / Piroschka van de Wouw
Wearing thick blue gloves, the workers filled dry ice into other active containers, which also have a battery-powered electric refrigeration system and a series of sensors to ensure that products stay within their target range, as low as -20 ° C. .
“Schiphol will undoubtedly be one of the main airports for vaccines,” said Marcel Kuijn, global director of pharmaceutical logistics for Air France-KLM Cargo.
“Our market share on the routes we fly is 10-20%, in our regular pharmaceutical business, so we expect to get at least that part of the vaccine distribution,” he told Reuters.
Portable refrigerators are transported by plane at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
COLD BOXES
Pfizer’s vaccine is shipped at -80 ° C in small refrigerated boxes with a capacity for about 5,000 doses that must be kept packed in dry ice until shortly before use. Moderna’s candidate is suitable for larger “active” packages that can take 30,000 doses.
The vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford is stable at normal refrigerator temperatures of 2 ° C to 8 ° C, so you have more transport options.
Kuijn estimated that while the vaccines will begin and end their journeys in refrigerated trucks, at least 30 percent will move to their destinations.
Schiphol is the second-largest pharmaceutical center in Europe after Frankfurt, so it is expected to be both a stage for vaccines from India, Italy or the United States and a starting point for vaccines manufactured in Europe.
A KLM worker is entering a cold room on a forklift as Air France-KLM cargo operations are preparing a massive logistics operation transporting new vaccines and vaccine candidates for COVID-19 through Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, The Netherlands, November 25, 2020. REUTERS / Piroschka van de Wouw
Some other vaccines under development in China are also stable in normal refrigerators and Kuijn acknowledges that only a minority of COVID-19 injections will need to be shipped frozen.
Air France-KLM currently operates 537 flights per week to about 100 destinations in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and America. The French-Dutch airline is likely to be one of the main airlines to African countries, given its network.
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Kuijn said that bottlenecks at Schiphol were unlikely and while the containers would be in high demand, he did not expect a shortage, as different vaccines will be available at different times.
“The first ones will probably arrive in December, January, and new vaccines will be approved from then on,” he said.
The KLM Cargo warehouse in Schiphol has four cold storage areas for pharmaceuticals and a fifth will be ready in January.
“The largest containers can carry up to 30,000 doses of the vaccine,” said Paul Crombach, program director for KLM’s “cold chain” program and head of the team preparing for the mass transport of COVID-19 vaccines.
“We knew we were going to have to transport a lot of the vaccine … but we have room as you can see,” he said, pointing to the vast warehouse behind him adorned with conveyor belts and robotic lifting arms.
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