DHL Express successfully delivered the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines to Malaysia today.
The express service provider worked with Malaysia Aviation Group’s cargo subsidiary, MABkargo Sdn Bhd (MASkargo) to fly the vaccines in and subsequently arranged for them to be sent directly to designated facilities across Kuala Lumpur.
One of the key challenges faced in the shipment of the Covid-19 vaccine, DHL said, is the stringent temperature requirements.
The courier service informed that the vaccines were delivered in specially-designed thermal shipper packaging customised by the manufacturer.
Each shipment was packed with dry ice to regulate the temperature, enabling its use in locations that lack the physical infrastructure to otherwise maintain the required temperature.
Temperature trackers equipped with sophisticated GPS technology are also packed within each thermal shipper box to provide full visibility throughout the shipment’s entire journey, DHL said.
Earlier this morning, the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccines arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), transported by MABkargo Sdn Bhd (MASKargo) via flight MH604.
A total of 312,390 vaccine doses were flown on a Passenger-to-Cargo (P2C) flight using an Airbus 330-300 aircraft that touched down at 10.07am.
Meanwhile, the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) is providing security escort for every movement of Covid-19 vaccine that arrives in the country, said the Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public Order Department (Operations) deputy director Datuk Azri Ahmad.
For the arrival of the first batch of vaccine today, a total of 150 PDRM personnel were involved in accompanying 312,390 doses of the vaccine, as well as PDRM assets such as high-powered motorcycles, police patrol cars and mobile police stations.
The first batch of vaccine were sent to three locations of Vaccine Storage Centers (VSCs) owned by DHL, namely, in Subang, Selangor; Bayan Lepas, Penang and Senai, Johor.
The vaccine delivery movement to 16 VSCs owned by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Johor will start tomorrow.
Apart from being involved in the task of providing security escort throughout the vaccine movement, PDRM will also monitor VSCs owned by the logistics company and MOH by placing personnel and mobile police stations.