The webinar built up a constructive idea for airlines, aviation and freight forwarders to identify the capacity in advance which they have to keep ready before the vaccine is available.
By Shalini Nair
June 26, 2020: The coronavirus pandemic has been confirmed in over 180 countries globally since it was first discovered in Wuhan, China in late December 2019. All African countries have since recorded cases as governments roll out measures to combat the spread.
While pharma manufacturers are spending time to find vaccines for the disease, logistics stakeholders are trying to create enough logistical support by the time the vaccine is out to be delivered.
In the recently concluded webinar titled: ‘Covid-19 response: Building resilient supply chains for vaccines delivery’ hosted by Indian Transport & Logistics News, one of the publications from the STAT Media Group, Parag Deshmukh, additional director, global strategic business development from the Serum Institute of India called for more support from the logistics stakeholders.
He noted that once the vaccine is ready the horizon is going to be wide open. Speaking on the high freight rates witnessed during the recent months, he said, “We can’t even afford to miss out 10-15 percent of the population as it is highly contagious. Thus, affordability in transportation and other charges have to be given right weightage especially for countries which doesn’t have enough health care access. We will cater to 8 billion people (if we manufacture the vaccine) but how the vaccines will be delivered to places like Mozambique, Cape Verde – that idea has to be set right by the stakeholders. I don’t mind even it is drones which will take charge to reach such regions.”
The webinar built up a constructive base for airlines, aviation and freight forwarders to identify the capacity in advance which they have to keep ready before the vaccine is available.
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, the scramble for air freight capacity continues unabated. Emirates’ cargo division quickly turned ideas into practical applications by providing cargo-only passenger flights. Julian Sutch, head of global sales – pharma from Emirates SkyCargo detailed the efforts by Emirates amid pandemic. Emirates is ready to address the future situation is vivid when it introduced additional cargo capacity by using 10 B777-300ER aircraft with seats removed from the economy class cabin.
Other panelists include Huned Gandhi, managing director air & sea logistics Indian Subcontinent, Dachser; Alan Fernandes, consultant, Zentiva Private Limited; Yashpal Sharma, managing director, Skyways Group; and Marrie Groeneveld, chief commercial officer, SkyCell.
