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In addition to the refrigeration problem, distributing COVID vaccines can be costly and nearly impossible in remote areas – a logistics challenge that could lead to a disproportionate delivery of a life-saving prophylactic.
Tecnam Aircraft has developed the solution for equitable COVID vaccine distribution.
New York, January 12 – Italian aircraft manufacturer Tecnam partnered with ultra-freezer manufacturer DESMON to repurpose their P2012 airplane for COVID vaccine transportation.
The aircraft platform named P2012 TRAVELCARE was developed to help distributors worldwide reach even the most remote and hardly accessible communities, including the areas with underdeveloped transport infrastructure, to ensure timely and equitable delivery of help.
Equipped with DESMON’s ultra-freezer designed to attain, maintain and track product temperature, Tecnam’s P2012 TRAVELCARE can transport as many as 115,000 vaccines to areas with less than 1,850ft of paved or unpaved runway.
The P2012 TRAVELCARE platform is designed to maintain product temperature at up to:
- -86°C during transport
- -65°C for 10-12h after the system is unplugged for further distribution
In addition to its unparalleled reach and refrigeration capability, the P2012 TRAVELCARE aircraft system can reduce the distribution cost to as little as USD 0.005 per dose, per flight hour – several orders of magnitude less when compared to the current means of transportation.
Tecnam’s Managing Director Giovanni Pascale Langer said:
“As the first vaccine breakthroughs were announced, we realized that the communities in remote areas would face delays in receiving help. 67% of European airports alone have runways shorter than 5,000ft, making them inaccessible to large aircraft.
We decided to act fast.
P2012 TRAVELCARE was designed to facilitate equitable and efficient vaccine distribution. It is our contribution to the fight for a COVID-free world.
With the dedicated support of our partners at DESMON, we worked tirelessly to repurpose the P2012 aircraft and meet all the necessary regulations for this special mission within less than a month.
The value of the P2012 platform will extend beyond this mission. Today, it will facilitate the vaccine transportation, tomorrow it will continue to serve communities thanks to its versatility and easy (re)configuration.”