Leading express service provider DHL Express successfully delivered the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccines donated by the United States government to Thailand.

The delivery took three days and was done door to door. The vaccine shipment, containing 1.5 million donated doses by the US through Covax, was flew in safely to Bangkok and transferred directly to a designated warehouse in Thailand.

Also read: DHL Express delivers US vaccine donation to Malaysia

DHL said one of the major hurdles in the shipment of vaccines, particularly for that of Pfizer-BioNTech, is the stringent temperature requirements for which it used customised thermal shipper packaging and dry ice to regulate the temperature. Temperature trackers with GPS technology were also fitted within each thermal shipping box.

The company added that it has transported over half a billion (around 550 million) vaccine doses to 147 countries worldwide. In Asia, DHL Express also handled the delivery of US-donated vaccines to Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia.

The logistics integrator arranges the collection of the vaccines from the US facilities as well as the actual airlift to major air hubs in Asia for further distribution to regional locations.

In a whitepaper, the company estimates up to 200,000 pallet shippers and 15 million cooling boxes on 15,000 flights will be required across the various supply chain setups.