DHL, SIA deliver first batch of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine to Singapore

December 22, 2020: DHL and Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced in two separate releases that the first shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines from Brussels, Belgium has arrived in Singapore on December 21, 2020, on board one of SIA’s Boeing 747-400 freighters. 

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

The vaccines were carried on board SQ7979, a scheduled freighter service from Brussels, Belgium, to Singapore. The flight departed on December 20, 2020, and arrived in Singapore on December 21. 

Temperature trackers equipped with sophisticated GPS are also packed within each thermal shipper box to provide full visibility throughout the shipment’s entire journey.

DHL Global Forwarding arranged for the collection of the vaccines from the manufacturing site in Puurs, Belgium where the cargo was accompanied by security escorts on the road to the Brussels International Airport. The cargo arrived at Singapore’s Changi International Airport on December 21 where DHL handled the customs clearance and final delivery to a designated location in Singapore. The company will also handle the return of these special shipper boxes to Europe.

Throughout the journey, the vaccine shipments were tracked by DHL. 

Kelvin Leung, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific, said, “Globally, we have been preparing for many months to ensure DHL’s solutions were heavily tested with the most stringent vaccine requirements in mind. We ran trials to ensure the viability of the deliveries. Every effort was made to ensure the vaccines are delivered within the fastest possible time, ensuring the quality, safety and security of these critical shipments.”

“Connecting People, Improving Lives is part of our core purpose. The pandemic has shown that we live this by doing what we do best-providing first-rate logistics anywhere in the world. When the pandemic first started, we were shipping large quantities of personal protective equipment (PPE) to communities that urgently needed it. We have now come full circle, shipping the first vaccines around the world so that they can be used to save lives,” he added.

More than 9,000 specialists work across DHL’s dedicated global network so that pharmaceutical, medical devices, clinical trials and research organizations, wholesalers and distributors, as well as hospitals and healthcare providers are connected across the value chain and through digitalization, from clinical trials to point of care, and every step in between.

Chin Yau Seng, senior vice president cargo, SIA, said: “The delivery of this first batch of Covid-19 vaccines to Singapore is an important milestone in the fight against Covid-19, and we are honoured to be able to play a part in this. It also served to demonstrate SIA’s and the Singapore air hub’s readiness for the very important job of transporting and distributing Covid-19 vaccines internationally.”

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