- Alaska Airlines and Singapore Airlines were tasked with transporting the vaccine to their geographically troubled homelands.
- The first doses reached remote Alaskan communities less than three days after the first trucks left Kalamazoo, Michigan, while Singapore became the first country to receive the vaccine a week later.
- Passenger airlines and cargo carriers have been instrumental in bringing the vaccine to the ends of the world.
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The first doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine left Kalamazoo, Michigan, on December 13, and within days, even the most remote locations were able to start vaccines thanks to the coordinated efforts of dispatchers, carriers, airlines and even agencies law enforcement agencies.
Cargo carriers UPS Airlines and FedEx Express were honored to fly the first doses from Michigan, but passenger airlines also proved to be an integral part of the airline vaccine distribution network. United Airlines, for example, flew with the first doses from the United States of Belgium just after Thanksgiving, weeks before the Food and Drug Administration endorsed the drug.
Read More: 6 cargo airlines and freight operators ready to win big as Moderna follows Pfizer toward FDA approval for its COVID-19 vaccine
Singapore Airlines and Alaska Airlines were also tasked with flying the vaccine, but both have a more exclusive mandate to deliver the drugs to end the pandemic in their countries. Singapore and Alaska are as far away as possible from Pfizer factories in Brussels and Michigan, making air travel the only viable option.
But despite the geography, the two regions were able to receive their first doses of Pfizer’s historic vaccine days after their emergency clearance, thanks to their respective airlines.
See how they did it.