Photos: Emirates Airline plays a key role in global vaccine delivery

A Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccines shipment is offloaded from an Emirates Airlines Boeing 777 that arrived from Brussels at Dubai International Airport in Dubai. Emirates Airlines, the Middle East’s biggest airline, plays a vital role in the global vaccine delivery effort.

Emirates SkyCargo had signed an agreement with UNICEF to prioritise the transport of COVID-19 vaccines, other essential medicines, medical devices and critical supplies to help fight the pandemic. Above, a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine shipment is offloaded into a refrigerated storage space at Dubai International Airport cargo terminal, in Dubai.

The key transit hub, previously used for the global shipment of pharmaceuticals, is now at the centre of a growing vaccine supply network based in the UAE.

Emirates already has delivered millions of doses to Latin America, South Africa and Egypt from major manufacturing hubs in India and elsewhere.

With 15,000 square meters (161,458 square feet) of refrigerated storage space, the sprawling facility can help maintain the required temperature controls for two of the leading COVID-19 vaccines that use the new vaccine technology messenger RNA, or mRNA.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, reported as being 95% effective, must be preserved at the frigid temperature of negative 70 Celsius (minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit).

Emirates also is assembling a wide-ranging supply chain across the world, catering particularly to countries in Africa and the Middle East that lack the proper infrastructure to store and transport the shots.

Earlier this month, Dubai's international port operator DP World and Emirates announced the creation of a vaccine logistics alliance,'' which plans to move "millions of more doses worldwide via the company's vast network of ports and Dubai's airport, a crucial east-west transit point.

"I think we're in a key strategic location to be able to deliver these vaccines to the developing countries that really can't get them,'' said Julian Sutch, commercial development manager at the Emirates cargo storage facility.

An Emirates Airlines Boeing 777 arrives from Brussels to deliver Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccines shipment at Dubai International Airport in Dubai.

Emirates SkyCargo has set up the world’s largest dedicated airside storage and distribution hub for COVID-19 vaccines in Dubai. The facility has the capacity to store up to an estimated 10 million doses of vaccine at the 2-8-degree Celsius temperature range at any one point of time. Emirates SkyCargo has already commenced distribution of COVID-19 vaccines from a range of manufacturers and geographies.