An employee at the pharma and healthcare logistics department at Kuehne+Nagel Group checks a container capable of being conditioned to be used for the transport of Covid-19 vaccines, in Machelen, Belgium. Picture taken on Nov 17. – REUTERSPIXJoern Schneemann thought he would be helping manage logistics for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics this year. Then, the Covid-19 crisis intervened, pushing the event back to 2021.
Neither North Rhine-Westphalia, which kicks off its vaccination programme in nursing homes on Sunday in line with the rest of Germany, nor Kuehne + Nagel disclosed the contract's value. "The temperature will also be electronically monitored and recorded during transport," said Axel Birkenkaemper, a spokesman for North Rhine-Westphalia's health ministry.
Kuehne + Nagel's third-quarter profit easily beat expectations, DSV called market conditions"better than anticipated", and Deutsche Post DHL, which is also delivering COVID-19 vaccines to Israel, is benefiting from a fresh surge in ecommerce in the run up to Christmas. "We don't foresee problems," IRU spokesman John Kidd said."Road already carries over 80% of all goods transported overland, including ... volumes of food and medicine to retail outlets."