"The decision not to vaccinate will not affect only your health or your life," Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC's "Squawk Box" Monday when asked about individuals who may be hesitant to take the vaccine. "Unfortunately it will affect the lives of others, and likely the lives of the people you love the most, which are the people that usually you are in contact with." For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi
The U.S. government is prepping millions of doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for shipment to sites across the nation, a mammoth logistical undertaking in support of what may be the most complex immunization program in history.
“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 Saturday. “And then by Monday, vaccines will be received.”
FedEx and the United Parcel Service will play crucial roles in distributing the vaccine, which is fragile and requires special treatment. Shipments will get priority access at the airport. If a plane with vaccines is coming in for landing, other passenger planes will have to circle and wait their turn.
“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.
Building an ultra-cold cold supply chain
Unlike the other vaccine candidates, Pfizer’s is especially difficult to store and ship. It needs to be kept super cold, as in minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit, in a sealed box, with dry ice.
That suitcase-sized box, something they call a “thermal shipper,” contains anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 doses. These custom thermal shippers act as mobile freezers for clinics that don’t have the necessary specialty equipment.
FedEx and UPS have been enlisted to safely transport the thermal shippers from Pfizer storage sites in Michigan and Wisconsin to 64 states, territories and major cities across the nation.
“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.”
The two shipping giants have decided to divide and conquer.
“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.”
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