Ever wondered about the long journey your COVID-19 vaccine has taken from the manufacturing plant to your arm?
These vaccines have some unique requirements when it comes to the logistics of their transportation. To maintain their potency and effectiveness, they need to be shipped at specific temperatures, usually around -80°C and as quickly as humanly possible!
Luckily for us, back in 1910, human society had received the gift of air cargo. Bolts of silk were transported from Dayton to Columbus in Ohio, less than 7 years after the Wright brothers flew the first plane ever.
Now, through air cargo, vaccines are being transported around the world at record speed. This is critical given that production facilities are scattered around the globe and that vaccines have such specific temperature requirements.
Maintaining the required cold temperatures throughout the entire supply chain has proven to be a daunting logistical challenge indeed. The vaccines complete a marathon by the time they reach your arm. Let’s take a look at what this journey looks like.
Vaccines are manufactured in bulk quantities and are bottled in glass vials. They are packed in special temperature-controlled thermal containers with dry ice for shipping.
Different vaccines have different temperature requirements. For example, Moderna’s vaccines are stored between -50 to -15°C. Pfizer’s vaccines require -80 to -60°C.
Refrigerated lorries transport the vaccines from the manufacturing plant to the airport. Next, following careful procedures, the vaccine doses are moved to the bellies of planes.
Passenger airplanes are being utilized to ship the vaccines in addition to the all-cargo fleets of express carriers such as FedEx and DHL. Airplanes carrying the vaccine get takeoff and landing priority.
Upon arrival, the vaccine doses are unloaded and transported to a dedicated air-side ultra-cold storage facility.
From there, portable ice boxes are used to transport vaccines from the cold storage to regional vaccination hubs. Refrigerated trucks transport vaccines to hospitals and clinics for administration.
You get jabbed.
If you’ve received the final dose of your COVID-19 vaccine, then congratulations! It is truly something worth celebrating. And if you haven’t yet, hang tight, it won’t be long now! UAE is well on its way to recovery with over 80% of the population already fully vaccinated.
UAE is also a key player in the global logistics chain of the vaccines. The country’s strategic location makes it an excellent distribution hub for all parts of the globe. Let’s see how it’s done.
Emirates SkyCargo is working with major pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, to transport vaccines all over the world. The operations are a part of an initiative by the Middle East’s largest airline to shift its focus from passenger transport to cargo shipment and seize a key position in the global vaccine delivery race.
SkyCargo has developed the “Pharma Corridors” program in partnership with ground handlers and airports to maintain a continuous cold chain from key pharmaceutical manufacturing plants to their destination.
A global logistics centre has been set up in Abu Dhabi, to distribute billions of Covid-19 vaccines worldwide by the end of next year. The hub will offer enhanced logistical capabilities for the storage and distribution of vaccines. Etihad Cargo will handle the distribution of vaccines stored in this facility.
It is quite fortunate indeed that we live in times where things can travel so quickly and efficiently from one place to another. We hope to see the COVID-19 vaccine reach every person in every corner of the globe, and to see the world say goodbye to the pandemic for good in the very near future. Imagine how impossible this feat would have seemed if not for air cargo and the global supply chain!
