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Issue 8 2020 - Freight Business Journal


///COOL CHAIN


Logistics industry gets ready for the


challenge of a lifetime Cool chain operators around the world are getting ready for the great Covid vaccine airliſt . The future health and prosperity of the entire world is at stake.


Cooperation is key to Covid vaccine airliſt , says Agility pharma expert


With millions of Covid-19 vaccines due to be shipped around the world, the global supply chain is facing one of its greatest ever challenges. But the world can count on one thing – the expertise and teamwork of the global supply chain fraternity, says Eric Ten Kate, vice-president of life sciences at freight forwarder Agility. He told FBJ: “The great thing is


that we are all talking to each other. Not just the freight industry, but governments and international non-government


organisations


like the World Health Organisation, all


leveraging each other’s


capability.” Even the military could have a role to play in some countries. The freight industry will be key


in ensuring that the vaccine gets to where it is needed, even in the most distant corners of the world, at the right temperature and in the correct condition, he said. Speaking in mid-November -


just aſt er the news that pharma giants


Pfi zer and BioNTech


announced that their version of the Covid vaccine had shown promising results in early tests and that governments in Europe had ordered millions of doses – he said that there would in reality be many ways of delivering the diff erent versions of the vaccine around the world. He explained: “There is no


single Covid vaccine. We are likely to have multiple vaccines with


diff erent chemical and biological properties becoming


available at roughly the same time. They will have diff erent cold chain and supply chain handling requirements. They will come from diff erent parts of the globe. They will ultimately prove to have diff erent rates of eff ectiveness in preventing infection, and they could have very diff erent side eff ects, and diff erent price tags.” The Pfi zer-BioNTech vaccine


would need to be stored and transported at -80°C using large amounts of dry ice. The vaccine can be stored in its super-frozen state but it would then need to be defrosted close the to the point of consumption before being given to patients. Once defrosted, shelf life shrinks to around 1-2 weeks. Moving such a vaccine over long distances by air “would not be easy, though it would be doable,” said Ten Kate. But as it was being produced in Europe, mainly for European consumption, most of the transport would be over relatively short distances by road, he predicted. Similarly, any vaccine produced


in the US would, he suggested, largely be consumed in the Americas. While there is clearly pressure


on governments around the world to order the fi rst version of the vaccine that becomes available, in the developing world it could be simpler and easier to wait for later, stabler versions that could be moved more easily and economically under less exacting temperature conditions.


He added: “The fi rst generation


of approved vaccines could be less stable than subsequent generations. Early versions could require storage at colder temperatures, have shorter shelf lives, and prove less suitable for transport in large batches. Some early vaccines might only be eff ective for up to a couple of weeks.” How that will play out in


how much air freight will be needed. “Local production is a big piece of the puzzle. It brings scale and eliminates many of the supply chain challenges. Developers are signing deals in key markets with contract manufacturers. These would eliminate the need for ‘air bridges’.” Ten Kate added that that is


important because the pandemic has already caused an acute shortage of air freight capacity and competition for space that has led to rate spikes over recent months. Carriers are fl ying all the aircraſt they can, fully loaded, but airlines


controlled airfreight containers. The vaccine airliſt could also


have an eff ect on other modes of transport. Movement of perishable food by air might have to take a back seat during the vaccine airliſt , though it should be pointed out that that is already aff ected by the disappearance of much of the world’s scheduled airfreight capacity and consequent hike in airfreight rates. Shippers of other urgent


airfreight such as spare parts needed to keep oilfi elds running have been asking Agilty whether they will be able to get space and if there are likely to be any bottlenecks. Surface transport could also


have an important role to play – perhaps not directly in the movement of vaccines themselves but, for example, moving syringes, PPE and other material in advance of the vaccines themselves so that everything is in place. Shipping lines could also move reefer containers around the world so that they can be used as temporary storage facilities for the vaccine at hospitals and clinics. On some trade lanes- sea-air (or


the supply chain is yet to be determined, he continued: “One thing to watch is how quickly vaccine manufacturers are able to scale production and spread their geographic footprint through agreements with life sciences contract manufacturers around the world.” The speed at which life


science companies can scale up manufacturing and distribution of multiple vaccines – and create geographically dispersed centres of production — will determine


have grounded a huge portion of their passenger fl eets because of the dramatic fall-off in traffi c. The air cargo capacity


requirement for a global Covid vaccine eff ort is anticipated to be fi ve times the normal requirement for transport of all vaccines in a normal year. However, the issue is not so much air capacity as such – the world has, in total, enough freighters and bellyhold capacity to cope – but the availability of facilities like cool dollies at airports, storage facilities and temperature-


air-sea) transport could have a role to play in moving the vaccine itself. Surface transport could also


take up some of the slack in moving cargo that would normally go by air to release space for the vaccine, says Ten Kate. Indeed, this has already started to happen during the current shortage of airfreight space and it is likely that some freight will continue to go by truck, train or ship in future as supply chains are reconfi gured. The availability of dry ice, vials, syringes and related items will also


be factors in delivering the vaccine. “We need to make sure things


don’t get stuck or spoiled at airports,” continues Ten Kate. Are customs offi cials set up to expedite outbound and inbound shipments of vaccines without delaying or compromising them in the inspection process? One would like to think that government bureaucracy will pull out all the stops and ensure that shipments are not held up unnecessarily and that countries will facilitate air traffi c rights, but this cannot be absolutely guaranteed. Airports could be bottlenecks.


Discussions are underway with customs and airport authorities to set up procedures for expedited processing of vaccines, and move them through airports without opening containers or packaging. Hub airports will have a vital


role to play in acting as staging- posts, especially for developing countries. Dubai, where Emirates has opened up a vast new pharma centre, for example, could store vaccines safely and


securely


before despatching them to destinations in Africa or Asia. Miami could play a similar role for Latin America. Then: “Are the air carriers going


to give priority space allocation to vaccines? And what’s going to happen to air freight rates? A related issue is to what degree are all the various parties going to handle this as a humanitarian or semi-humanitarian eff ort intended to get as much vaccine to as much of the world’s population as fast as possible versus a commercial challenge in which availability, access and cost are determined


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