Following successful shipments of test vaccines earlier this year, Delta has started delivering vaccine shipments as part of the global effort to beat the pandemic. Most recently, the carrier delivered vaccines from Detroit to Atlanta and San Francisco.
On Wednesday (December 16, 2020), Delta Air Lines announced that following successful shipments of test vaccines earlier this year, the carrier has started delivery of COVID-19 vaccine shipments, most recently from Detroit to Atlanta and San Francisco. The critical shipments are receiving the highest priority on Delta aircraft, with the entire journey monitored in the airline’s unique ‘Vaccine Watch Tower’ which provides end-to-end visibility as well as 24/7 monitoring and reporting. Working closely with Flight Operations, the Tower ensures the safe and secure transportation of the vaccines at the required temperature. In Wednesday’s announcement, Delta Cargo’s Vice President, Rob Walpole, said,
“Within three hours of being engaged, Delta Cargo had the vaccines in hand and on their way. Our successful COVID-19 vaccine shipments this week prove what we’ve known for a long time: that we’re ready and able to take on more in the all-hands-on-deck domestic and global distribution effort of this life-saving vaccine. Our vaccine task force, which was created months ago to understand the shipping requirements and work with healthcare and pharmaceutical experts, has built scalable critical shipment capabilities to support this effort.”
Delta has extensive experience in shipping vaccines and has built an operation that has been validated by Pharma industry standards, including being the first U.S. passenger airline to receive IATA’s Center for Excellence for Independent Validators Pharma Logistics Certification at their Atlanta hub and headquarters. Prior to the pandemic, Delta already offered four tailored pharmaceutical options that meet specific temperature requirements for vaccines. The airline has large warehouses and cooler facilities in Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York-JFK and Seattle, along with a network of 49 certified Pharma airports worldwide. The brief video below, courtesy of Delta Air Lines, highlights the Delta Cargo team’s vaccine handling operations.
Source: Delta Air Lines