Airlines will play 'key role in the distribution' of COVID-19 vaccines: analyst

·Anchor

November 12, 2020 at 8:00 AM·3 min read

The airline industry will play a crucial role delivering coronavirus vaccines worldwide after pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer (PFE) win approval for their pandemic fighting inoculations. “This is sort of an all hands on deck for distribution,” Cowen Managing Director and senior research analyst Helane Becker told Yahoo Finance Live.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently urged governments worldwide to prepare for vaccine delivery. “Air cargo plays a key role in the distribution of vaccines in normal times through well established global time and temperature sensitive distribution systems.”

However, IATA cautions that “delivering billions of doses of vaccine to the entire world efficiently will involve hugely complex logistical and programmatic obstacles” such as building refrigeration storage units.

A woman holds a small bottle labeled with a "Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccine" sticker and a medical syringe in front of displayed Pfizer logo in this illustration taken, October 30, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

Pfizer announced earlier this week that its experimental vaccine, which proved 90% effective at preventing COVID-19 in recent trials, must be stored at sub-zero temperatures.

An airborne armada

Airlines like New York-based Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (AAWW) will be among the global airborne armada eventually shipping billions of doses of vaccine, according to Becker. The cold storage requirements make it difficult.

“This is going to be one of the biggest challenges for the transportation industry,” Michael Steen, chief commercial officer at Atlas Air told the Wall Street Journal last month.

Atlas Air has the largest fleet of 747 freighters in the world but that alone won’t be enough. Becker said Atlas Air, FedEx (FDX) and United Parcel Service (UPS) will all be enlisted to deliver vaccines.

“UPS has the largest freezer farms I think in the world. They've got one big one at Louisville, Kentucky, which is their US Air hub, and they have one in the Netherlands,” which Becker said prepares them for the upcoming distribution task.

UPS (UPS) stock is up 42% year-to-date. FedEx (FDX) is up 77% and Atlas Air (AAWW) is up 87%. “We think Atlas has legs, the stocks really performed well,” Becker said.

IATA said the job ahead is enormous. “Just providing a single dose to 7.8 billion people would fill 8,000 747 cargo aircraft.”

U.S. carriers shipped 58,000 tons of cargo a day before the pandemic and passenger airlines like American Airlines (AAL) and United Airlines (UAL) will be needed, according to Becker. “American and United also have cold storage facilities. American in Philadelphia and United in New York, so they'll be able to participate,” she said.

As the world anxiously awaits approval of effective coronavirus vaccines, IATA’s Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac described what lies ahead “Safely delivering COVID-19 vaccines will be the mission of the century for the global air cargo industry.”

Adam Shapiro is co-anchor of Yahoo Finance Live 3pm to 5pm.

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit

AFP
Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
Asian stocks were mostly higher on Tuesday after a tech rally on Wall Street, but their gains remained modest in thin Christmas Eve trade.US "stocks didn't really have any direction in the morning, then we got this tech rally that just sort of drifted higher all day," said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.
Associated Press
Biden will decide on US Steel acquisition after influential panel fails to reach consensus
A powerful government panel on Monday failed to reach consensus on the possible national security risks of a nearly $15 billion proposed deal for Nippon Steel of Japan to purchase U.S. Steel, leaving a decision to President Joe Biden, a longtime opponent of the deal. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, known as CFIUS, sent its long-awaited report on the merger to Biden, who formally came out against the deal in March of last year and now has 15 days to reach a final decision, the White House said. A U.S. official familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the private report, said some federal agencies represented on the panel were skeptical that allowing a Japanese company to buy an American-owned steelmaker would create national security risks.
AFP
US panel could not reach consensus on US-Japan steel deal: Nippon
A US government panel failed to reach a consensus on whether US Steel's acquisition by Nippon Steel threatens Washington's national security, shifting the decision to the White House, the Japanese company said late Monday."Nippon Steel has been informed by CFIUS that the Committee has referred this matter to President Biden after failing to reach a consensus on our transaction with US Steel," Nippon said.
NBC News
Former D.C. police intel chief found guilty of tipping off Proud Boys leader ahead of Jan. 6 attack
Shane Lamond, the former D.C. Metropolitan Police intelligence unit head who was indicted last year for feeding information to Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, was found guilty on Monday.
AFP
The real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'
A factory turned into a battlefield, riot police armed with tasers and an activist who spent 100 days atop a chimney -- the unrest that inspired Netflix's most successful show ever has all the hallmarks of a TV drama.That was the beginning of an occupation of the factory and a 77-day strike that ended in clashes between strikers armed with slingshots and steel pipes and riot police wielding rubber bullets and tasers.
CBS News
Portion of Santa Cruz Wharf collapses amid high surf with 2 people rescued
A part of the Santa Cruz Wharf collapsed Monday afternoon during a high-surf warning, with authorities confirming two people had to be pulled from the water.
Politico
U.S. Steel sale now in Biden's hands
The president has 15 days to decide whether to approve or reject the nearly $15 billion sale of the iconic steel company to Japan's Nippon Steel.
Associated Press
Biden signs defense bill despite objections to ban on transgender health care for military children
President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law a defense bill that authorizes significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members, aims to counter China's growing power and boosts overall military spending to $895 billion despite his objections to language stripping coverage of transgender medical treatments for children in military families. Biden said his administration strongly opposes the provision because it targets a group based on gender identity and "interferes with parents’ roles to determine the best care for their children.” “No service member should have to decide between their family’s health care access and their call to serve our nation,” the president said in a statement.
Associated Press
El Salvador's Congress approves ending ban on metals mining
El Salvador's Congress approved Monday a law that would lift the country’s seven-year-old ban on mining for metals. The law, proposed by President Nayib Bukele and passed on a 57 to 3 vote, would allow mining everywhere except nature reserves and sensitive watersheds. The law bans the use of toxic mercury in gold mining, and would require private companies to enter a type of joint venture with the government to open mines.
NBC News
Adnan Syed, whose conviction was overturned and then reinstated, seeks sentence reduction in 'Serial' murder case
Adnan Syed, who was the subject of the groundbreaking crime podcast "Serial," is requesting a sentence reduction so he can remain free as he fights his murder conviction, his legal team said Monday.
Reuters
Asia shares rise, dollar underpinned by elevated bond yields
Asian stocks edged up on Tuesday, though moves were subdued in a holiday-curtailed week, while the greenback held near a two-year high helped by elevated U.S. Treasury yields as investors prepared for fewer Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2025. After a recent run of central bank decisions, this week is much quieter, with Japan's October meeting minutes and Australia's December minutes released on Tuesday morning, providing more details on their decisions to hold rates at the time. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.35% early in the session, tracking Wall Street's overnight gain.
USA TODAY
Watch as heavy surf causes Santa Cruz pier to partially collapse, sending 3 into water
Heavy surf destroyed a portion of Santa Cruz Wharf on Monday afternoon, sending three city works into the water. All three people were rescued shortly after.
CNN
Skiers injured as lift chairs collide at ski resort in Lake Tahoe
Five skiers were transported to the hospital Monday after an “incident” on a chair lift at Heavenly ski resort in Lake Tahoe, according to Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Bryce Cranch.
CBS News
Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty to state murder, terrorism charges
Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty Monday to state charges in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
USA TODAY
'A mistake': Biden faces backlash upon commuting sentences of death row inmates
President Joe Biden's decision to commute the sentences of 37 death row inmates ignited a fierce debate about the morality of executions.
USA TODAY
Watch scary moment workers flee as a cargo ship rolls onto its side at port in Istanbul
A video from Turkey shows a cargo ship rolling onto its side at a port in Istanbul after an imbalance in the cargo load.
NBC News
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz unsuccessfully tried to halt release of House Ethics report
Matt Gaetz sought an eleventh-hour restraining order against the House Ethics Committee in an unsuccessful effort to halt the panel's release of its final report summarizing its investigation into him.
NBC News
California wharf collapse sends 3 people into the ocean
Three people dropped into the ocean Monday when a California wharf partially collapsed.
AFP
Netanyahu tells Israel parliament 'some progress' on Gaza hostage deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers on Monday that "some progress" had been made in negotiations to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza, more than 14 months into the war.Israel's military on Monday said three soldiers were killed in northern Gaza, the focus for months of an offensive Israel said aimed to prevent Hamas from regrouping there.
USA TODAY
NY Gov. Kathy Hochul calls for dismissal of 14 corrections employees after inmate death
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called for the immediate dismissal of 14 prison employees after the death of Robert Brooks earlier this month.

An airborne armada

Latest Stories