DHL Global Forwarding: working round the clock to deliver life-saving vaccine delivered
DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight specialist of Deutsche Post DHL Group, has supported the British non-profit organization Crown Agents in the successful transport of four million Covid-19 vaccine doses to 15 countries.
“We are incredibly proud to have DHL Global Forwarding entrusted with the complex logistics for these vital vaccine doses. DHL has a strong global network. Our Life Sciences & Healthcare teams in the UK and recipient countries have worked around the clock to ensure the life-saving vaccine could be delivered quickly and safely to 15 countries in Africa and Southeast Asia, “said Paul Chinery, Vice President Air Freight, DHL Global Forwarding UK.
“For more than 100 years, Crown Agents have been shipping and distributing important goods such as Covid-19 vaccines that we have brought to some of the most remote places in the world such as Tristan da Cunha and the Pitcairn Islands. We are very happy to have us at On behalf of the UK Department for Foreign Affairs, Commonwealth and Development Cooperation, we were able to organize the complex logistics of these shipments. Working closely with DHL, we ensured that the vaccines arrived safely at their destinations, “explains Fergus Drake, CEO of Crown Agents.
DHL Global Forwarding also arranged for vaccine doses to be collected from facilities across the UK prior to air transport of the vaccines to the various countries. The strict temperature requirements pose a particular challenge when shipping vaccines. Therefore, the vaccines were packed in special actively regulated thermal containers in order to ensure constant temperatures on the transport route and at the destinations that do not have the necessary infrastructure to maintain the required temperature. Temperature sensors with advanced GPS technology were installed in all thermal containers to ensure full transparency during the entire transport.
To date, DHL has delivered more than 731 million vaccine doses to 153 countries around the world. The transports carried out this week represent another milestone in the global fight against pandemics. DHL is proud to play an active role in creating a safe new normal for the businesses and communities DHL serves, in line with the company’s “Connect People, Improve Lives” motto.
More than 9,000 life sciences and healthcare experts work in DHL’s specialized global network, so that pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, clinical test and research institutions, wholesalers and sales companies as well as hospitals and health care providers are networked with one another through digitization along the entire value chain from clinical studies to practical use at the treatment site.
The DHL portfolio for the healthcare industry includes more than 150 pharmaceutical companies, 20 depots for clinical studies, 100 certified stations, 160 GDP-certified warehouses, 15 GMP-certified locations, 135 medical express locations and an international express network for the on-time delivery in over 220 countries and territories.
The global logistics providers are faced with the challenge of quickly building medical supply chains in order to deliver an unprecedented volume of more than ten billion vaccine doses worldwide. In doing so, the roughly three billion people who live in regions with a less well-developed logistics infrastructure must also be reached. To ensure a global supply of COVID-19 vaccines over the next two years, around 200,000 pallet deliveries, 15 million deliveries in cool boxes and 15,000 flights in the various supply chains will be required – according to DHL’s estimate in its whitepaper on vaccine logistics.
