Creating antidotes to Covid-19 is done if we are to believe the avalanche of reports from laboratories around the world. Once validated by the WHO, these precious vaccines will have to be sent. Gandon transport (53) is already ready to accomplish this mission.
Pfizer, Moderna, Sanofi and Astra Zeneca have in turn announced that they have developed vaccines capable of effectively protecting against Covid-19. Before them, the Russians and the Chinese had also claimed to have found an antidote to the virus. Other laboratories are said to be on the verge of finalizing theirs. The European Union has pre-ordered hundreds of millions of doses from five pharmaceutical companies, of which 90 million will go to France. Doses that must be sent as close as possible to the people to be immunized. A challenge. Particularly because Pfizer’s vaccine must be stored at -70 ° C, while traditional vaccines are generally stored at -20 ° C. “There are no vehicles capable of guaranteeing this temperature. And even if we could, we couldn’t handle such a commodity ”, explains Joël Gandon, whose company is one of the French leaders in pharmaceutical transport.
The entire logistics chain is preparing for the arrival of anti-Covid vaccines
Difficult, but not impossible. Pfizer plans to ship its antidotes in containers. “You just need to place them in containers with solid dry ice which turns into gas and ensures the right temperature for ten days”, explains the president of Gandon who has already positioned himself to deliver these vaccines, highlighting his 25 years of experience. His company of 280 people, which is headquartered in Saint-Fraimbault-de-Prières (53), has eight sites and a fleet of 160 vehicles, 130 of which supply wholesalers and pharmacies with pharmaceutical products daily.. The entire logistics chain is preparing for the arrival of anti-Covid vaccines. The DGITM is on a war footing. Companies specializing in the logistics of pharmaceutical products have already been contacted.
“We received a call from a state body a few weeks ago to discuss this subject, while the laboratories had not yet communicated on their results”, confirms Joël Gandon, who specifies thatthere are four or five major players in France capable of responding to this kind of call for tenders. The business manager, who makes 70% of his turnover with the pharmaceutical industry, said he was ready. Throughout the year Gandon transports deliver all kinds of prescribed drugs in France and these days the company is ending its influenza vaccine delivery campaign. “Adapting to needs, we know how to do”, comments Joël Gandon who remembers having contributed, at the margin, to the transport of H1N1 vaccines, ten years ago. The manager is counting on this market to make up for his delay in activity linked to the health crisis.
Vaccine: convincing the French to get immunized
“Contrary to what one might think, we suffered from the first confinement. Last March we first experienced two weeks of intense activity to deliver drugs to pharmacies. But when they found themselves with full shelves, they didn’t order again. Since no one went to the doctor anymore, the pharmacies weren’t selling anything. ” Joël Gandon claims to have lost 50% of his turnover in the spring. He therefore does not want to miss this opportunity, while wanting to help allow the French to have the possibility of finding the vaccine as close as possible to their homes.. Once these vials have arrived safely, it will remain to convince them to be immunized and it is perhaps be what will be the most difficult. According to a recent Ipsos survey, only 54% of them say they want to be vaccinated against Covid-19, the lowest rate of the fifteen countries surveyed around the world.
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