DHL to move more vaccine jabs into Australia and NZ

by Payload Asia

DHL has been behind most of the vaccine deliveries in Asia Pacific, including the first shipment of over 300,000 doses to Malaysia (pictured above).

DHL Global Forwarding has announced it will deliver more shipments of Covid-19 vaccines on a weekly basis into Australia and New Zealand, after moving the shipments to the two nations on 15 February.

The weekly shipments are expected to ramp up the vaccination programmes in both countries. New Zealand has started administering jabs on Friday last week, whilst Australia began inoculating its residents on Monday, with priority going to quarantine and border workers, frontline healthcare workers, the elderly and people with disability.

The freight division of Deutsche Post has been responsible for arranging the collection and airfreight of the vaccines from the manufacturing site in Europe and upon arrival at the Sydney and Auckland airports. It also handled the customs clearance and final delivery to designated locations in both countries.

Last week, DHL facilitated the first shipments of vaccines to Japan, Malaysia and Hong Kong together with Asia’s top carriers.
The company has also been entrusted with the transport of Covid-19 vaccine jabs to Singapore, Israel, and other European countries, including Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Finland, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Romania and Sweden.

“Globally we have worked across many markets to deliver the vaccines successfully in markets we’ve been engaged in, and we will continue to do so,” said Charles Kaufmann, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding North Asia & South Pacific.

“Logistics plays a critical role in getting vaccines to where it is urgently needed. Our cold-chain network and pharmaceutical logistics expertise have meticulously planned every last detail to manage an extremely complex operation seamlessly,” he added.

Zane Morton, managing director, DHL Global Forwarding New Zealand added, “the deliveries were smooth as can be expected, thanks to the significant effort and rigorous planning by the teams involved.”

“Working in close coordination with our partners on the ground and New Zealand’s regulatory authorities, all measures have been taken to ensure not just the speed of deliveries, but also ensuring the quality and safety of these critical shipments,” he noted.

New Zealand expects to cover the country’s population of 5 million in a full year, whilst Australia aims to inoculate its 25 million citizens by October, Payload Asia learned.