GENEVA, 18 December 2020: The International Air Transport Association renewed its campaign calling for employees in the aviation sector to be designated essential workers during the impending Covid-19 vaccine campaign.
IATA has asked governments to prioritise aviation sector employees for inoculation after health care workers and vulnerable age groups.
IATA’s 76th Annual General Meeting last month unanimously adopted a resolution stressing aviation worker are essential in the distribution chain.
“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 essential when vaccine rollout plans are developed. 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,” said IATA’s director general and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac.
IATA’s call is aligned with the proposed Roadmap for Prioritising Uses of Covid-19 Vaccines by the World Health Organisation’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE).
It 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 the police, for example.
The AGM also reiterated the vital role of air transport in facilitating the global response to the pandemic, including the timely distribution of medicines, testing kits, protective equipment and eventually vaccines around the world.
