Reaching all 7.8 billion people on the planet with a corona virus vaccine will require a global airlift filling the equivalent of 8,000 Boeing Co. 747 freighters, according the International Air Transport Association.
The capacity estimate assumes that an inoculation program would require only one dose, while multiple-course treatments would add to the demand, Glyn Hughes, the industry body’s head of cargo, said in a media briefing Wednesday.
Airlift is the correct terminology here,” Hughes said. “We know the procedures well. What we need to do is scale them up to the magnitude that will be required.”
Some planes may not be suitable if the vaccines require the typical temperature range of 2-to-8 degrees Celsius for transporting drugs, he said. Frozen shipments would exclude even more aircraft.
IATA said it’s working with airlines, airports, global health bodies and pharmaceutical firms to pull together plans for a distribution program.
Flights to Africa, Latin America and parts of Southeast Asia, which lack vaccine-production capabilities, will be especially critical.
These markets rely on cargo deliveries that are usually carried in the belly of wide-body passenger aircraft on long-distance routes, IATA said. Many of those planes remain grounded because of the fall-off in demand and travel restrictions in place to stop the spread of the virus.
