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SINGAPORE. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has applauded the Singaporean authorities for prioritising aviation front-line workers for vaccination.
IATA’s praise of Singapore follows its call to governments to include aviation staff as essential workers during the vaccine campaign, once health care workers and vulnerable groups have been protected.
“We are not asking for aviation workers to be on top of the list, but we need governments to ensure that transportation workers are considered as essential when vaccine roll-out plans are developed,” said IATA Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac.
“The transportation of the COVID-19 vaccines has already begun, and as calculations show, it will require the equivalent of 8,000 Boeing 747 freighter aircraft for global distribution. It is therefore essential that we have the qualified workforce in place to ensure a functioning logistics chain.”
IATA’s call is aligned with the proposed Roadmap for Prioritizing Uses of COVID-19 Vaccines by the World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE). This recommends priority populations for vaccination based on the respective epidemiologic situation and vaccine supply scenarios. Within this framework, SAGE has included transportation workers alongside other essential sectors outside health and education sectors including police, for example.