MOHAMMAD BILAL TAHIR
KARACHI: Pakistan is one of the developing countries striving to vaccinate its dense population of over 220 million to prevent from contracting the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.
The government with its limited budget is purchasing consignments of vaccine from various countries, on the one hand, while it made an effort to produce an indigenous vaccine, on the other hand. However, the effectiveness of the vaccine remains uncertain with novel variants emerge every next day.
The government and private sector need to explore credible options for arranging vaccine consignments for its citizen which must be effective for long run, with no or less side effects, cost-effective, well-shipped, and etc. In addition to it, the procurement of vaccine is not piece of cake for the government and private sector when it terms to arrange millions of dozes for a large population as it is a highly complicated systems which must not be taken care at any cost.
In an interaction with Business Recorder, Robert Sutton, head of logistics cluster, Abu Dhabi Ports said Pakistan is a key market for us as we are currently in discussion with potential vaccine manufacturers and exploring other strategic ventures to facilitate vaccine distribution and storage in the country.
Through our partners, we have developed one of the most extensive and integrated, end-to-end supply chain solutions in the world, which is able to deliver millions of vaccines from the point of production to the point of vaccine administration, safely, effectively, and transparently, he said and added. This means that our clients do not have to go through the trouble of building their own supply chains; they can make use of our own turn-key solution, Robert said.
Furthermore, we have developed a unique hub and spoke model right here in Abu Dhabi that leverages our strategic position as a gateway to a global population of 3.6 billion. The model allows us to store large quantities of vaccines at our advanced cold and ultra-cold storage hub in Abu Dhabi and align our deliveries with the ability of recipient countries and communities to receive these supplies safely. The model helps eliminate vaccine wastage and protects the cold chain integrity, Robert Sutton further added.
Realising that vaccine delivery is often not enough, we have recently launched our first in-country vaccination service, which is unique in the Covid-19 immunisation space as it combines vaccine delivery with rapid on-ground deployment of medical and logistics experts, staff and equipment. The combined service enables countries and communities with limited medical and logistical capacities to inoculate their populations quickly and efficiently, and ‘future-proof’ the effort by training the local medical and logistics personnel on how to handle these sensitive products, he said.
Detailing the intricate nature of logistics, he explained that the vaccines handled by the HOPE Consortium supply chain are stored inside our advanced 19,000 sqm cold storage and ultra-cold storage facility, which is one of the largest of its type in the region. The facility has an expanded capacity to hold in excess of 120 million vaccines at any time and of any type, at temperatures ranging from of +8°C to -80°C.
Furthermore, the facility incorporates a specialised ‘Freezer Farm’ enabling safe handling and storage of over 11 million vaccine doses requiring the ultra-cold temperature of -80°C. Given the temperature sensitivity of the vaccines and the fact that shipments can often arrive on short notice, keys to ensuring that deliveries are handled without temperature deviation are speed, agility and responsiveness, Robert added.
