DP World, the logistics giant in Dubai, is an alliance for the global distribution of vaccines

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Dubai’s logistics company, DP World, has helped launch a vaccine logistics alliance to accelerate the worldwide distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.

More than a year after Covid-19 began to spread globally, the race for vaccination is underway. More than 170 million shots were fired in 77 countries, with Israel and the United Arab Emirates leading the way in vaccination rates. Jabs have been broken by rich countries, leaving continents such as Africa and South America in the dark on the road to a global recovery.

“We will implement all the facilities we have and our geographical spread,” DP World President and CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in an exclusive interview Monday. “Whatever we have, we will implement it because this pandemic will not go away unless everyone is vaccinated,” Sulayem said.

DP World’s ports, terminals and logistics operations, spanning six continents, handle 10% of global trade, based on the annual volumes of containers moved around the world. Originally established as a local port operator, the company now boasts 90 locations in 60 countries.

The advantage of DP World, says its president, is the company’s access to remote areas and its ability to transport vaccines to places many others cannot say. The alliance will run the scope of Dubai Airports, Emirates Group and Dubai Humanitarian City, all working to transport, store and distribute vaccines in more remote corners of the globe.

These places include the DP World logistics center in Kigali, Rwanda and a multifunctional port in Paramaribo, Suriname – to name two of the most on the continents of Africa and South America, respectively.

And the company’s home in Dubai, widely regarded as the region’s travel and business hub, boasts close to two-thirds of the world’s population in just eight hours. “Dubai is one of the busiest airports with amazing connectivity through all airlines,” Sulayem said.

In addition to the Dubai Logistics Alliance, DP World will lend UNICEF expertise to help distribute vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.

More than two-thirds of the world’s available vaccine doses have been collected by governments, which make up only one-sixth of the world’s population, leaving much of the developing world facing an indefinite period without the hope of a coup. 19 for its populations.

“Africa is far behind,” African billionaire and philanthropist Mo Ibrahim said last week. There is a “rising tide of what is called vaccine nationalism. All rich countries are fighting over who can get more vaccines, “Ibrahim said.

DP World’s Sulayem also pointed out that vaccine nationalism could prolong the pandemic. “More than 12 billion vaccines are produced, but 9 billion [are] already booked by Western countries, which really make up about 14% of the population, “he said.

The pandemic claimed nearly 2.4 million lives and infected more than 108 million people, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and the World Health Organization. The Dubai Alliance will support the WHO’s COVAX initiative – a separate alliance aimed at delivering vaccines to the world’s poorest countries – and its efforts to equitably distribute 2 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines in 2021.

Dubai residents can currently register to get the Pfizer, AstraZeneca or Sinopharm vaccine. Bringing new jabs to market requires approval by the country, including the implementation of clinical trials, which DP World said CNBC could be ongoing.

“We are talking to Moderna. Moderna is a newcomer to this field and their vaccine is good,” Sulayem said of the American pharmaceutical giant, whose shooting was approved for use in the United States in December. He added that DP World is currently talking to Moderna about how and where the logistics company can help distribute the vaccine.

Moderna did not respond to a request for CNBC comment.