The challenge of the century: The distribution of the vaccine against Covid-19

“Transport and logistics industry, your mission should you choose to accept it, is the distribution of the vaccine against Covid-19.” No, this is not fiction. This is truly the biggest challenge our industry will be facing within the next few months…

The race for the Covid-19 vaccine is in full swing. Preliminary test results are popping up from everywhere over the past few weeks. Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech were the first to unveil the results of their study: their vaccine against Covid-19 is 95% effective and their tests are entering phase 3, the last and final step before a license approval. Since then, governments of all countries are in a hurry to conclude agreements with the pharmaceutical companies guaranteeing the stock needed for the mass vaccination of their nation as fast as possible.

The CEO of the German pharmaceutical BioNTech, Dr. Ugur Sahin, told the BBC that “if everything continues to go well, we will start delivering the vaccine at the end of this year (…) Our aim is to deliver more than 300 million doses of vaccine until April next year.”¹ Even though China and Russia have also made a vaccine of their own against Covid-19, Western countries seem reluctant to place an order given the lack of transparency about the effectiveness of their formula.

In Canada, the government has already secured 76 million doses from Pfizer and BioNTech. Why so many doses considering that our nation counts only 38 million in population? In fact, the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNtech requires two doses, which must be given three weeks apart. Also, this vaccine must be stored at -70°C, so its distribution, if approved, will come with its share of complexities. It can then be stored at a temperature between 2°C to 8°C, 24 hours before being administered.²

But since it is better not to put all your eggs in one basket, Canada has also reserved 56 million doses of the vaccine from the American pharmaceutical company Moderna, which shows a similar effectiveness of 95% against Covid-19 according to their tests. Compared to Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine, Moderna’s would remain stable much longer in a simple refrigerator, but these data have yet to be confirmed and their study peer-reviewed.³ In total, Canada has secured access to seven leading vaccine candidates, confirms Anita Anand, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, in an email sent to La Presse media.

Now that the whole world is mobilizing and is already dreaming about the first deliveries of the vaccines awaiting approval, a major challenge looms on the horizon for our industry: the transport, of course, but also the logistics plan behind the delivery of several billion doses worldwide by the end of 2021. An unprecedented operation deployed almost simultaneously all over the globe, within a so-called “reasonable” timeframe depending on the lifetime of the vaccines depending on their particularities and characteristics, which may vary from one formula to another. To achieve this, well-thought out preparation and a rigorous plan for the transport and logistics industry should be considered in collaboration with the governments of each respective country, so the supply chain can adequately meet the demand and thus avoid the most possible logistical obstacles.

As some of my colleagues like to say: We are not carrying potatoes here! The pharmaceutical industry is governed by specific rules and regulations to ensure the integrity and effectiveness of each dose. Vaccines should travel in secure, temperature-controlled crates. Large-capacity logistics storage facilities maintained at an adequate temperature and kept under close surveillance, given the prized nature of the goods, will need to be part of the big plan. Also, the entire border process will have to be discussed to facilitate customs clearance of critical cargoes moving internationally in order to avoid delays and to improve efficiency during these times of global crisis.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) calls the operation “the mission of the century for the air cargo industry.” Indeed, assuming that a single dose is sufficient to vaccinate the 7.8 billion people living on earth, it will still be necessary to fill 8,000 747 cargo planes to ensure the distribution of the vaccine on a global scale.⁴ Road, intermodal and rail transportation are likely to play a very important supporting role in terms of domestic and local distribution over a single territory or even on a single continent. For example, in Europe when you consider the territorial proximity between neighboring countries.

Well, once pharmaceutical companies get the green light, global public health will now rest in the hands of the transportation and logistics industry. A colossal and complex job for international freight forwarders who will have to coordinate the logistics behind an operation of this magnitude, considering that one grain of sand could jam the gears of the whole supply chain. Hence, the importance of fine-tuning a logistics plan with multiple alternatives in case of emergency. However, be reassured because no mission is impossible! Anticipating the unforeseeable is the very story of the success of our profession!