Last-mile delivery problems hampering pace of Covid vaccine rollout, distributors say

Last-mile delivery problems hampering pace of Covid vaccine rollout, distributors say

The race to provide safe and effective coronavirus vaccinations has been curtailed by logistical problems associated with last-mile delivery, according to executives at two companies helping to distribute inoculations.The mass rollout of vaccines is thought to be the biggest logistical challenge the world has ever seen, with everyone from policymakers to manufacturers grappling with questions over cost, transportation, distribution and equitable access.Vaccine developers have estimated it will be possible to produce enough doses for more than one-third of the world's population by the end of 2021. However, while many high-income countries have started to administer doses, others have been left behind."I said from the beginning it will not be a problem of global logistics, it will be a problem of last-mile (delivery) from our warehouses to doctors or whoever because it is difficult to transport minus 70 degrees products," Deutsche Post DHL CEO Frank Appel told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Tuesday."And, of course, it is also difficult to scale capacity so rapidly because nobody knew which vaccine would work," Appel said.Cargo is loaded into a Lufthansa Cargo aircraft at Frankfurt Airport, in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on November 25, 2020.THOMAS LOHNES | AFP | Getty ImagesHis comments on