Airports advised intensifying security efforts to load COVID-19 vaccine

MONTREAL (Reuters) – Airports around the world are urged to step up security efforts to protect shipments of COVID-19 vaccines amid police warnings about possible criminal network targets.

The recommendation of a global airport body comes when pharmaceutical companies and airlines conduct the largest logistics operation of its kind to distribute vaccines designed to combat the global pandemic.

As part of a wider consultative bulletin on vaccine distribution recently sent to members, Airports Council International recommended that affected airports keep in touch with local authorities and conduct risk assessments on shipments in the face of potential threats.

The bulletin was posted Friday on the group’s website, a spokesman said.

“The sensitive nature of vaccines, the high level of demand that will be there to get them, and the initial shortage may generate some attention from people or groups with malicious intent,” he said.

“Increased protection of these assets and / or the facilities that will host them should be taken into account. In many cases, this requires coordination with local security authorities.”

Interpol’s global police coordination agency recently warned that organized criminal networks could target COVID-19 vaccines, possibly by infiltrating or disrupting supply chains. [FWN2II0HH]

The bulletin also advised airports to consider safety precautions given the use of large volumes of dry ice needed to meet the ultra-cold requirements of vaccines. The transport of dry ice is regulated as it is considered a “dangerous good”.

The United Nations aviation agency is discussing “increasing the volume of dry ice that can be carried on a single plane, as long as strict protocols are followed,” he noted.

A vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and German partner BioNTech SE has begun to be administered to people in the United States and Britain and a second vaccine, from Moderna Inc., is expected to gain regulatory approval from Food and Drug US Administration in a few days.