Seamless vaccine distribution takes robust medical supply chains and healthcare expertise

The world has overcome a lot since the pandemic began. In the face of many challenges, we have learned to adapt and find new solutions. COVID-19 is the largest global health crisis in a century, and it has taken a global effort to get where we are today.

Since the worldwide vaccine distribution campaign began in December 2020, DHL has safely delivered over one billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to more than 160 countries. This milestone has involved over 350 DHL facilities and countless colleagues. We’re immensely proud of the people and capabilities we have worldwide to do our part and play a vital role in the global roll-out.

Luckily, even before the pandemic, we had a sophisticated network and healthcare experts in place. In 2020, we mobilized this team and leveraged our capabilities. We quickly brought new, dedicated services online to safely ship high volumes of highly temperature-sensitive vaccines, along with additional materials, like syringes, bandages, and saline solution. In addition, we introduced state-of-the-art GPS temperature trackers into the vaccine supply chain to monitor conditions in each shipment. We also pack everything with dry ice in special active thermal containers to ensure these incredibly fragile vaccines arrive safely.

For months now, we’ve been working across multiple supply chain setups and managing direct distributions in some counties, utilizing our expertise across all aspects of logistics. DHL Global Forwarding and DHL Express transport COVID-19 vaccines on multiple routes from Europe and other origins to countries across Asia Pacific, South America, and Europe. DHL Supply Chain is responsible for the proper storage and local distribution of the vaccines in several German states.

Our job will not be over once the 10^th billion dose is distributed. It’s estimated that another 7-9 billion vaccine doses will be needed annually in the coming years to keep (re)-infection rates low and to slow the pace of virus mutations – not counting seasonal fluctuations. That’s why we need to maintain the logistics infrastructure and capacity built up for the pandemic.

We have learned so much since the pandemic began. We know what we need to be ready for future global health crises. Identifying and preventing health crises is essential. And to do that, we need active partnerships, expanded global warning systems, an integrated epidemic prevention plan, and targeted R&D investments.