It had already been there in September Iata, the main international association of airlines, to underline that governments should have prepared adequate strategies to deal with an immediate, swift and correct one distribution of the anti-Covid vaccine.
The priority, in fact, linked to this situation, is that of bring the drug around the world and, above all, in the best conditions to avoid ruining it.
“This is the mission of the century for the entire air transport sector ", were the words of Alexandre de Juniac, general manager and managing director of Iata, who also stated: "This cannot happen without careful planning that must start now."
The problem related to Covid vaccines, in fact, they are not represented only by the preparation in the short possible time of the various experimental phases, corroborated by a necessary reliability of the same. Equally complex is the whole logistical question resulting from it, with the need to bring the vaccine to every corner of the planet.
The estimates of the Iata make you think: for distribute the drug to the entire population, 8,000 Boeing 747s would need to be filled with vials. Today, there aren't even a thousand of these planes. And if we think that some vaccines, after approval, could require not one, but two doses after some time, it is well understood that about 15,000 flights with planes full of drugs could be needed. Glyn Hughes, chief of the cargo of the IATA, ruled: "If we had 50 million doses today we would almost certainly not be able to distribute them around the world."
The problem of airports that guarantee the vaccine transport chain constantly below -18 degrees centigrade will be the challenging terrain for the next few months. Accurate strategies and planning will be needed to allow Pfizer-BioNtech's vaccine, - which requires a constant temperature of -70 ° C to avoid deteriorating - and that of Moderna of -20 ° C, to reach everywhere and thus not disperse the sacrifices made so far. and try to solve the problem. In short, the second game against the Coronavirus will be played on the implementation and investments that will be made in the air transport sector, as a substitute rib of support for the post-Covid pharmaceutical industry. Transport by air will certainly be the protagonist, a sector necessary both to favor the maintenance of the characteristics of the vaccine and for the problems associated with its distribution.
