Wind Causes Delay in Vaccine Arrival at Narita

Narita, Chiba Pref., May 17 (Jiji Press)--A strong wind caused a delay of nearly five hours in a flight, believed to be carrying Pfizer Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine, to Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, on Monday. The All Nippon Airways flight from Brussels initially aborted a landing at Narita and changed course. It headed to Narita again after waiting at Tokyo International Airport at Haneda for the wind to die down. Measures to preserve the quality of the vaccine were taken, such as keeping the temperature in the cargo compartment at certain levels, sources familiar with the situation said. It was the first problem related to vaccine delivery since the ANA Holdings Inc. <9202> unit started carrying doses by air in February. A maximum instantaneous wind speed of 19.5 meters per second was recorded at Narita around the time the flight gave up the initially planned landing. END