Emirates working on vaccine transport logistics with Pfizer and others

UAE flag carrier Emirates president Tim Clark has revealed that the airline is working on Covid-19 vaccine transport logistics with Pfizer and other global pharmaceutical companies.

In an interview, Clark told CNBC: “The industry is trying to establish best practice involving the third-party supply chain and this logistical exercise, to ensure we get them (vaccines) to the markets that need them so badly, and basically, that’s the whole planet.

“The logistics of distribution of this vaccine of this nature, given the conditions under which it has to be shipped, it’s going to be a challenge for the industry.”

Last week, Pfizer and BioNtech announced that their Covid-19 vaccine candidate BNT162b2 showed more than 90% efficacy in a Phase III trial.

The vaccine candidate is required to be stored at around -100°F and need strict refrigeration standards.

The pharmaceutical company said that 50 million vaccine doses will be available by the end of this year, and up to 1.3 billion doses next year.

Clark was further quoted as saying: “We’re working on trying to move this Pfizer vaccine in specially designed containers on our planes, in our holds, and in the cabins, and keeping them at that level through the distribution point.

“We have the chillers, we have the freezers, we have the logistical control for the airline to get these vaccines into multiple parts of the world where others cannot.”

In September, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) warned that the global air cargo industry will face its largest Covid-19 vaccine transport challenge if governments fail to begin planning now.