Plans are afoot to develop global guidance for the airfreight industry to enable optimal transportation of the Covid-19 vaccine once it has been developed.
This follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between The International Air Cargo Association (Tiaca) and Pharma.Aero, a non-profit organisation focusing on reliable end-to-end air transportation for life science and medtech shippers.
According to a statement released by Tiaca, the guidance will be developed gradually in four work packages through a joint working group to ensure feedback from all stakeholders in the supply chain of air cargo and pharmaceuticals.
“In the past few months airfreight has demonstrated once again its vital role in the global economy and distribution of essential medical supplies. In the months to come, airfreight will again make an important contribution to the global public good and in fighting this pandemic by playing a vital role in the Covid-19 vaccine global supply chain.”
As pharmaceutical companies race to develop the Covid-19 vaccine, it is still unclear what impact it will have on the global supply chain, specifically logistics requirements, and the air cargo industry, says Tiaca. To address these concerns, the joint working group will bring to the table all the key industry stakeholders, including pharmaceutical manufacturers and logistics businesses.
“The aim of this programme is to provide the air cargo industry with more clarity on the demands, expectations and quality supply chain requirements, including but not restricted to critical trade lanes, air cargo capacity, handling and storage, and track and trace requirements for the transportation of the vaccines. At the same time, shippers will gain more understanding about the capabilities of the various logistics players. This will ensure that once the vaccine is available in the market, they will be ready to respond to the needs of the shippers and transport vaccines in optimal condition to all corners of the globe.”
“Covid-19 vaccine delivery will be one of the biggest logistical challenges in modern history. No one company can own the end-to-end vaccine supply chain,” said Neel Jones Shah, Tiaca board member and global head of airfreight at Flexport.
The working group will comprise members of both organisations and will also reach out to various international organisations. The results will be shared with the industry through white papers and webinars in later stages of the programme which aims to be complete by the end of 2020.