Re-starting global economy depends on tackling ‘last mile’ of vaccine journey

Re-starting the global economy for billions of people will depend on successfully overcoming logistical challenges in the ‘last mile’ of a COVID-19 vaccine’s journey to immunisation stations, according to a new report. Using cargo drones, mobile cold rooms, portable vaccine micro-chillers and other innovative means of delivering temperature sensitive vaccines to remote towns and villages may make the difference between life and death in low-income countries. Halting the spread of COVID-19 and safely re-connecting countries to international trade will also kick-start the global economy, but this only be possible with an effective rollout of vaccines to the billions of people who need them. Universal vaccine access is already a major challenge in low-income countries, due to the lack of robust refrigerated cooling networks especially to remote communities. Mass vaccination for COVID-19 will need to deliver vaccines globally at scale and speed never before considered. Supported by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), University of Birmingham...