trans-o-flex delivers more flu vaccines than last year

By mid-August, the express service provider trans-o-flex had already distributed 7.3 million doses. A total of around 26 million vaccine doses are expected to be available in Germany. The largest surge is expected to be delivered from September to October. Drug safety is the focus here. Active temperature control is becoming increasingly important due to climate change.

(Weinheim) The logistics for distributing the current flu vaccines started earlier this year than in 2020. Because vaccines were particularly lacking at the beginning of the flu season last autumn, the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut released 7.3 million vaccine doses by mid-August. This was significantly more than at the same time last year. “From the very beginning, we were able to transport more vaccines than in 2020,” confirms Wolfgang P. Albeck, CEO of the express service trans-o-flex, which specializes in logistics solutions for pharmaceuticals and other high-quality, sensitive goods. A total of around 26 million vaccine doses are expected to be available in Germany for this year’s flu season. “The majority will be handed over to us by manufacturers in September, and by the end of October, at least 95 percent of the flu vaccines are usually delivered.”

Like most vaccines, flu vaccines are very temperature-sensitive and classified as requiring a cold chain. Therefore, they must be transported between two and eight degrees Celsius. “With our trans-o-flex ThermoMed network, we deliver them nationwide on behalf of numerous manufacturers,” Albeck continues. “To comply with temperature requirements, transports with trans-o-flex ThermoMed do not require expensive special packaging and cooling agents, which increase weight and thus transport costs, and also need to be retrieved or disposed of in a complicated manner. Instead, we actively manage temperature compliance with temperature control of our vehicles and transshipment centers, while simultaneously ensuring transparent documentation in a temperature lifecycle.”

Comprehensive transport networks in Germany and Austria

According to Albeck, active temperature control is gaining importance, especially in light of climate change, and the demand for transport solutions for vaccines and other temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals is steadily increasing. “Summers are getting hotter, winters colder, and weather fluctuations are becoming increasingly unpredictable. Therefore, the risk of transporting temperature-sensitive goods without temperature control has become nearly incalculable.” trans-o-flex has adapted to this development and, as the only logistics service provider in Germany and Austria, has established comprehensive transport networks where sensitive goods are actively temperature-controlled and documented within 24 hours from sender to recipient, both in the so-called ambient range (15 to 25 degrees Celsius) and in the cooling range (2 to 8 degrees). Actively temperature-controlled transports are also offered in other European countries through the EUROTEMP network.

Photo: © trans-o-flex