The newly approved vaccine for the communist virus will begin distribution to all U.S. states on Monday. UPS and FedEx are helping to deliver the vaccine.
The vaccine was developed by Pfizer of the United States and BioNTech of Germany. Pfizer, McKesson and federal and local law enforcement agencies have been working with officials in the Trump administration to ensure the vaccine is safe.
General Gus Perna, the chief operating officer of the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed, told a news conference in Washington, DC, that “there is no doubt that the distribution has already begun.”
“Right now, the packaging and the loading of the vaccine is going on, and the focus is on quality control. Over the next 24 hours, they will begin moving the vaccine from Pfizer’s manufacturing facilities to UPS and FedEx centers, and then to 636 locations across the country that have been identified by states and territories.”
Vaccines need to be kept at -94 degrees Fahrenheit at all times to ensure their effectiveness.
Officials expect 145 sites across the United States to begin vaccinating on Monday, another 425 sites to be vaccinated on Tuesday (Dec. 15) and the remaining 66 sites to be vaccinated on Wednesday (Dec. 16).
If all goes according to plan, the first batch of 2.9 million doses of vaccine will be delivered. A second shipment will be made in 21 days.
Vaccination kits and vaccination cards have been transported to the intended locations. The kits include needles, syringes and other supplies needed for vaccination.
Operation Warp Speed is a Plan of the Trump administration that focuses on speeding up the development of vaccines and treatments for the virus.
The US Food and Drug Administration on Thursday (December 10) gave Pfizer an emergency order to make a vaccine.
Officials are preparing to approve a second vaccine from US-BASED Moderna next week.
General Pellner told reporters that because officials did not want to assume in advance that the new vaccine would be approved, there was no predetermined dose.
As of the end of this month, the schedule for the distribution and administration of a total of 40 million doses of vaccine is still on track.
A government advisory committee recommended that the first vaccines be distributed to front-line health workers and those working in long-term care facilities. But ultimately, it will be up to state governors to decide how those vaccines are distributed and administered.
Production of the vaccine began this summer, although clinical trials are still under way.
General Pellner compared the first day of vaccine distribution to D-Day, a key battle during World War II.
D-day was the beginning of the end [of the war]. That’s where we are today.” “But make no mistake, this is not the end. Months of hard fighting have already begun. It still takes hard work, courage and strength to succeed in the end. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
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