SCHIPHOL – The first batch of COVID-19 vaccinations for the Caribbean part of the Kingdom left from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport to Bonaire and Aruba on Tuesday on a Royal Dutch Airlines KLM flight.
This is the start of a series of transports to the Dutch Caribbean islands. On Wednesday, the first batch of vaccinations for Curaçao will be transported, followed by the first batch for St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba this Friday. All transports will take place on KLM.
The first batch for Bonaire and Aruba was loaded on board of a Boeing 777 Tuesday morning in the presence of Dutch State Secretary of Public Health, Welfare and Sports Paul Blokhuis and KLM President-director Pieter Elbers. Flight KL779 will arrive in Bonaire on Tuesday afternoon, unload part of the first batch, and then continue on to Aruba to drop off the remaining part.
Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao and St. Maarten will receive the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, which has to be stored between minus 70 and 80 degrees Celsius. With the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, the health care personnel and persons age 60 and over will be vaccinated first. No specific timeframe has been set as yet for the vaccination of persons 18 to 60 residing in Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao and St. Maarten.
St. Eustatius and Saba will receive the Moderna vaccine, which is stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius, enough to vaccinate the entire adult population. In Saba, the vast majority of the adult population, close to 1,200, has pre-registered for the vaccination. The two smallest islands will receive the second batch of vaccines a month later.
Vaccination on all six islands is slated to start on Monday, February 22. All logistics have been prepared. In total, the Netherlands will send 341,300 vaccines to the Dutch Caribbean in the coming months.
“Many persons have worked for a year to get the coronavirus under control as much as possible in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. The first batch of vaccines that the islands receive this week is a hopeful turning point on the way to the end of the crisis,” said State Secretary Blokhuis.
“The arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine is good news for everyone. It brings us closer to the end of the end of the pandemic and a deep crisis in which we have been worldwide for a year. With our cargo division we have prepared in the past months for a worldwide fast and secure transport of vaccines,” said Elbers.
“Today’s transport is special because this is the first KLM flight in a series of flights to Bonaire, Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten with on board the vaccines. KLM has a long, special history of cooperation with the islands which has created a warm bond. Also, the Caribbean part of the Kingdom has it hard and we are glad and proud to be of value for the islands’ residents,” said Elbers.
It was explained in the KLM press release that the most important objective is to safeguard the varying temperatures of the vaccines, ranging from 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, up to minus 20 degrees Celsius and minus 70 to 80 degrees Celsius, during the entire process of transport.
The BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines that went to Bonaire and Aruba on Tuesday was packed together with dry ice, which keeps the vaccines frozen for multiple days if the packages are kept unopened and in an atmosphere of 2 to 25 degrees Celsius. Immediately after arrival in Bonaire and Aruba, the vaccines are stored in a controlled atmosphere.
The freight division of Air France KLM Martinair Cargo handles more than 80,000 pharmaceutical transports per year and is highly experienced with the transport of temperature-controlled medications. The distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines involves very specific challenges with regard to transport and safety. A special process was developed for a fast, reliable and safe distribution.
