Moderna vaccine distribution of 6 million doses is all set once the Food and Drug Administration approves it for emergency use.
According to Gen. Gustave Perna, who heads logistics for President Donald Trump’s vaccine program Operation Warp Speed, medical supply company McKesson will get the doses from Moderna for packaging and distribution to 3,285 areas in the U.S.
FedEx and UPS will handle the Moderna vaccine distribution, he added. People must take two doses of Moderna’s vaccine four weeks apart.
The shipments of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine are more than double the 2.9 million doses the U.S. set to ship for Pfizer’s vaccine.
“The difference in quantities was about what was available when we were doing planning for initial delivery,” Perna said during a press briefing. “As early as 15th [of] November, I snapped the chalk line on what was available to Pfizer so states could do the planning. ... We wanted them to have enough time as possible to do the planning and realize where they wanted to go first.”
The briefing Monday comes as Americans began receiving some of the first shots of Pfizer’s vaccine. New York’s Northwell Health administered the state’s first vaccine doses just before 9:30 a.m. ET. Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, received the first shot, prompting applause from onlookers.
Moderna’s vaccine could be approved for emergency use as early as Friday. The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will evaluate Moderna’s vaccine on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the shipping of Pfizer vaccine has already started in the U.S., with 2.9 million doses being shipped now by FedEx and UPS.
“As I speak today, right now, vaccines are being packaged with a lot of emphasis on quality assurance. To that end, tomorrow morning, vaccines will start rolling from manufacturing to distribution hubs,” said Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, at a briefing by the Health and Human Services Department. “And then by Monday, vaccines will be received,” he added.
FedEx and the United Parcel Service will be leading the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine, which requires special treatment. Airports will prioritize shipments of the vaccine. Other passenger planes will have to wait their turn if a plane with vaccines will be landing.
“The reason we’re both here and we’re both doing this is because we’re the only ones that can,” said Richard Smith, executive vice president of FedEx Express, referring to both FedEx and UPS.
Pfizer vaccine distribution
The shipping of Pfizer vaccine is not easy. It must be kept fully cold, at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit and in a sealed box with dry ice.
That suitcase-sized box or “thermal shipper” has from 1,000 to 5,000 doses. These custom thermal shippers are used as mobile freezers for clinics that do not own the necessary specialty equipment.
“We have the capability to serve every ZIP code in the United States of America,” said Smith. “This is what our network was built to do.”
“FedEx and UPS have split the country into two,” said Wes Wheeler, president of UPS Global Healthcare. “We know exactly what states we have, and they know what states they have.”
“The vaccine distribution and program implementation is going to be the most complex vaccination program ever attempted in human history,” said Dr. Kelly Moore, associate director for immunization education at the Immunization Action Coalition.
UPS has spent months setting up “freezer farms” near strategic air hubs in the U.S. and Europe. They are equipped with portable freezer units that can provide subarctic storage. Moreover, UPS also manufactures up to 1,200 lbs of dry ice per hour in its U.S. facilities.
According to the UPS distribution model, doses are first delivered from Pfizer storage sites to its freezer farm in Louisville, Kentucky. UPS will place the thermal shippers on planes and trucks.
