By Henry Uche
Following the challenge of distribution and logistics for COVID-19 vaccines, the HOPE Consortium, with its partners, recently said it has developed extensive and integrated end-to-end supply chain solutions capable of delivering millions of vaccines from the point of production to the point of vaccination, safely, effectively and transparently.
A statement delivered by the company disclosed that it was HOPE Consortium’s mission to deliver vaccines to all those in need, irrespective of where they are, to help win the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the statement, HOPE Consortium is developing capacity to transport, store and distribute 18 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses per annum to countries around the world, including Nigeria. This means that the Hope Consortium can deliver vaccines from the manufacturing plant to those in need, anywhere in the world.
“The combined service enables countries and communities with limited medical and logistical capacities to inoculate their populations quickly and efficiently.
“The consortium is also ‘future-proofing’ the effort by training the local medical and logistics personnel on how to handle these sensitive products, thereby helping eliminate vaccine wastage and ensuring that every vaccine counts.
“To assure end users that vaccines they receive are safe and effective, all of the vaccines delivered through the Hope Consortium supply chain are connected to ‘mUnity,’ which is a digital block chain -enabled solution developed by Maqta Gateway.
“MUnity tracks and manages the journey of the vaccines through the cold chain, from production all the way to the inoculation, in real-time, ensuring that the vaccines remain within the prescribed temperature bands at all times.”
It added that, in terms of vaccine wastage due to limited refrigeration capacity in certain parts of the world, the consortium employed a unique hub-and-spoke model in Abu Dhabi, which combines the Emirate’s strategic position as a global gateway with the partners’ unique logistical capacities.
More so, the model allows it to store large quantities of vaccines at its advanced cold and ultra-cold storage hub in Abu Dhabi, at temperatures ranging from of +8 °C to -80 °C, which aligns its deliveries with the ability of recipient countries and communities to absorb these supplies safely.
“We pooled our collective expertise of our partners to provide multi-faceted logistics services to handle transport, demand planning, sourcing, training, and digital technology infrastructure, to facilitate vaccine availability across the world.
“This effort has placed Abu Dhabi as the central life sciences hub for the global response to the pandemic by leveraging its strategic position as a gateway to 2/3 of the global population.
“As a result, The Hope Consortium has handled over handled over 45 million vaccines in over 35 countries, including those in the MENA Region, Asia, Africa, Europe, South America and the CIS so far, which is a testament to the strength and capability of the Hope Consortium partnership,” it stated.
