DHL wins German regional contract to deliver COVID vaccines

BERLIN (Reuters) – Deutsche Post (DE:DPWGn) DHL has won a contract from Germany’s western state of Lower Saxony to store and deliver 2.2 million COVID-19 shots to vaccination centres and hospitals, the German logistics company said on Tuesday.

Germany is struggling to turn the tide of a second wave of the coronavirus. Partial lockdown measures have resulted in a levelling off of infections, whose daily rate and resulting deaths however remain high.

Health Minister Jens Spahn has said Germany has ordered around 300 million potential vaccine doses. This includes almost 70 million of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, according to a health ministry overview.

The European drugs regulator is due to complete its review of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) candidate vaccines by Dec. 29 and Jan. 12 respectively.

DHL said the fact that the jabs from Pfizer/BioNTech must be transported at -70 degrees Celsius was a major challenge that the company had addressed by investing in Deep Freezer Farms and other storage facilities.