The First Shipment of COVID-19 Vaccines Will Arrive at Hospitals on Monday
On Monday, the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines will begin arriving at hospitals and distribution centers across the country. Their arrival marks the beginning of a new era in the country’s ongoing battle against the Coronavirus which has killed nearly 300,000 Americans since it first washed ashore in early 2020.
The government OK’ed the Pfizer vaccine for distribution after a tense Friday afternoon which ended with the FDA granting it emergency authorization use. Now, with all of the approvals out of the way, it’s time for the delivery phase to begin—a process which Gen. Gustave Perna, the chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, will not be easy.
“You have heard me refer to today as D-Day,” said Gen. Perna at a press conference on Saturday. “Some people assumed that I meant the day of distribution. In fact, D-Day, in the military, designates the day the mission begins. D-Day was a pivotal turning point in World War II. It was the beginning of the end. D-Day was the beginning of the end, and that’s where we are today.” He added that it will take months of “diligence, courage and strength to eventually achieve victory.”
According to the Associated Press, the first shipment of the roughly three million doses will leave Pfizer’s manufacturing plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan, by truck and then be flown to regional hubs. FedEx and UPS, which typically compete against each other, will then work together to deliver the vaccines to 150 distribution centers across the country. As of now, distribution centers include hospitals, pharmacies and other large facilities that are able to meet the vaccine’s storage requirements. By Wednesday, nearly 500 distribution centers will have received shipments of the vaccines. The initial delivery will be followed up by a second one with 3 million doses of an accompanying booster shot in three weeks.
As has been widely reported in various outlets, one of the complicating factors of this vaccine is that it must be stored in freezing temperatures—approximately 94 degrees below zero. To solve for that, Pfizer has built shipping containers outfitted with dry ice and GPS-enabled sensors that allow them to track where the vaccines are and if they are staying cold.
Once they arrive at distribution centers, the vaccination process can begin. First in line to receive the vaccines will be vulnerable populations like the eldery in nursing home facilities and essential hospital healthcare workers who are on the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19 every day.
Next week, the FDA is scheduled to review another vaccine from Moderna and the National Institutes of Health that seems to be as effective as the Pfizer treatment. According to the Washington Post, if it is authorized and distributed at a similar pace, it’s possible that as many as 40 million people will be vaccinated before the end of the year.
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