If the race to approve the first vaccine against covid-19 is being frantic, the logistics race will be no small thing.
Pfizer announces that its coronavirus vaccine works in 90% of cases, but now the new challenge lies in the difficult task of transporting a vaccine that must be at minus 80 degrees Celsius.
This will not only be a challenge for logistics companies, it will also be a challenge for companies that are dedicated to technology, and here the IoT also plays an important role. Controlling the Cold Chain and managing this Data will be the key so that everything reaches its destination correctly.
The vaccines would be transported by air and land, potentially stored in distribution facilities and then taken to facilities such as hospitals, private clinics, pharmacies ...
The latter presents another great challenge, as many common primary care centers do not have the technology to maintain the vaccine for long.
But how do you keep temperatures so cold?
Months before Pfizer's announcement, some of the world's largest logistics companies announced their commitment to be part of the distribution network needed to fight the pandemic.
UPS, FedEx and DHL, for example, have invested millions of dollars building new facilities at their distribution centers designed to store thousands of doses.
These facilities have thermal sensors and special freezers, capable of cooling to less than -80 ° C.
Pfizer, on the other hand, created a special carry bag the size of a standard briefcase, filled with dry ice and GPS sensors. These boxes, in principle, could contain up to 5,000 doses at the appropriate temperature for 10 days, provided they remain closed.
Of course, it is not the same to organize a vaccination campaign to combat an outbreak in a given country than to do it globally.
Finally we will see how technology helps in the transport and conservation of the vaccine.
