Follow us on Telegram for the latest updates on Covid-19: https://t.me/mothershipsg

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has delivered the first shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines to Singapore on Monday (Dec. 21).

This was the first Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shipment to be delivered to a country in Asia.

Delivered via SIA's cargo freighter

According to SIA, the vaccines were delivered via one of SIA's Boeing 747-400 freighters.

It was carried on board SQ7979, a scheduled freighter service from Brussels, Belgium, to Singapore.

The flight departed on Dec. 20, and arrived in Singapore the next day at approximately 7:55pm.

The shipment was prioritised for loading into the aircraft at Brussels, and was similarly prioritised during unloading in Singapore.

It was then transported to SATS's cold-chain facility, Coolport, for subsequent storage and ground transportation.

A successful shipment trial was conducted on Dec. 19, on the same freighter flight route.

Freight priority will be given to vaccines

In order to prioritise airfreight capacity for vaccines, SIA will be according uplift priority to Covid-19 vaccine shipments across the key vaccine trade lanes.

This includes readying the airline's seven Boeing 747-400 freighters, as well as the airline's passenger aircraft fleet, which will be deployed on cargo operations to increase the capacity for vaccine transportation where needed.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has to be stored at -70°C

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has to be stored at -70°C, which requires the use of specially designed temperature-controlled shippers, utilising dry ice to maintain its optimal temperature. 

According to Pfizer, the vaccine can only be stored at normal refrigerated 2-8°C conditions for five days. 

Once thawed and stored under 2-8°C conditions, the vaccine vials cannot be re-frozen or stored under frozen conditions. 

In order to meet the temperature requirements of the respective Covid-19 vaccines, SIA has signed agreements with key cold chain container providers, in order to ensure that it has access to sufficient temperature-controlled containers to handle the large volumes of vaccines that need to be transported by air.

We deliver more stories to you on LinkedIn

Top image via Matthias Ang.