Aon has collaborated with a group of leading insurers and technology experts to underwrite COVID-19 cargo insurance risk with the help of sensors to track sensitive vaccine shipments as they make their journey from “factory to syringe”.

The offer is available to pharmaceutical firms, government bodies, transportation and logistics companies, distributors, health systems, pharmacy chains, inoculation centres and other qualified parties in the vaccine supply chain.

Aon, which will donate all 2021 revenues from the new solution to charity, says timely payment will be ensured for doses that fall outside an agreed-upon temperature range while being transported or stored. Real-time reporting of any temperature deviation will also help mitigate losses and maximize the number of doses administered to the public.

CEO Global Marine, Commercial Risk Solutions Lee Meyrick says Aon has been working on client solutions utilising sensors in the supply chain for several years.

"Recognising the concerns faced with the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, we explored the development of a new solution to provide financial protection to the companies involved in the distribution process,” Mr Meyrick says.

The offer is a collaboration with insurtech firm Parsyl and lead underwriter Ascot Group, binding insurers Chubb European Group and AIG, with support from Munich Re.

Other insurers include Axa, AEGIS London, Antares Managing Agency, Axis Insurance, Beazley, Fidelis, MS Amlin and Talbot.

“Working with leaders in the industry, we were quickly able to build out a group of like-minded insurers that are willing to underwrite the risks using verifiable and effective sensor technologies,” Mr Meyrick said.

Andrew Brooks, CEO of Ascot Group, says the collaboration will make more capacity available and bring to market additional products that will enable effective vaccine distribution at a global scale.

ChronosCloud, Intel, Mastercard and Sensitech have agreed to permit access to certain platforms, blockchain technology or devices as part of the risk management solution. ChronosCloud’s platform actively responds to any temperature fluctuations, so shippers can ensure continuous quality.

Modern supply chains are becoming increasingly complex and end-to-end visibility is essential, Carlos Menendez, President, Enterprise Partnerships at Mastercard says. Mastercard Provenance Solution tracks using blockchain and promises to minimise disputes through a “trusted, shared” record of shipments.

Sensitech's real-time temperature and location data will help to reduce problem escalations and enable nimble decision making with facts, GM Mike Hurton said.

“We look forward to supporting Aon in its efforts to address the challenges that COVID-19 vaccine distribution presents,” Intel's Industrial Solutions Division GM Christine Boles said.