With the world welcoming news a second COVID-19 vaccine is producing striking results, thoughts are now turning to how to get doses of the drugs to global populations.
Reports that a vaccine from Moderna is proving 94.5 percent effective in early trials come after earlier news that a vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech appeared to be similarly effective.
Both companies are reportedly on track to seek permission within weeks for emergency use in the US.
READ: Asia-pacific airline bosses back global COVID testing regime.
"That should give us all hope that actually a vaccine is going to be able to stop this pandemic and hopefully get us back to our lives," Moderna president Stephen Hoge said, adding that it will require many vaccines to meet global demand.
The announcement was more good news for an airline industry ravaged by the pandemic and set to play a critical role in distributing the vaccines.
But the International Air Transport Association has warned that getting the vaccines to the people who need them will be one of the largest and most complex global logistics challenges ever undertaken.
IATA estimates that just providing a single dose of vaccine to 7.8 billion people would fill up 8000 Boeing 747 cargo aircraft.
More than half of all air freight is usually carried by passenger planes and a key issue for the industry is how reduced capacity and connectivity will affect distribution. Border restrictions have seen the 22,000 pre-COVID city pairs serviced by airlines dramatically reduced.
Working with a wide range of partners, IATA has made an early move to tackle some of the complex issues by developing guidance material aimed at ensuring the air cargo industry is ready to support the large-scale handline, transport and distribution of vaccines.
“Delivering billions of doses of a vaccine that must be transported and stored in a deep-frozen state to the entire world efficiently will involve hugely complex logistical challenges across the supply chain,’’ IATA director-general Alexandre de Juniac said.
“While the immediate challenge is the implementation of COVID-19 testing measures to re-open borders without quarantine, we must be prepared for when a vaccine is ready.”
“This guidance material is an important part of those preparations.”
Other key challenges for the industry include the availability of temperature-controlled storage facilities and contingencies when such facilities are not available.
At least one vaccine needs to be shipped and stored in a deep-frozen state and IATA says this means making available ultra-cold facilities across the supply chain.
Some types of refrigerants are classified as dangerous goods and volumes are regulated. Staff also need to be trained to handle time- and temperature-sensitive vaccines.
All parties will also need to know their roles and responsibilities in distributing the doses.
IATA says governments need to ensure adequate capacity is available for vaccine distribution and that there are timely regulatory approvals for storage and clearance.
Security arrangements also need to be in place to make sure the vaccines, which are valuable commodities, are secure from tampering and theft.
Partners working with airlines on the problem include the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA), the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the UK Civil Aviation Authority, the World Bank, the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
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