The first trucks came out of Pfizer warehouses in Michigan • This as the number of American deaths from the plague approaches the 300,000 mark • Many states report difficulty in conducting the vaccination campaign in light of the delay in approving federal aid packages • Trump: "The FDA could approve the vaccine a week ago"
The first trucks left this morning (Sunday) from Pfizer warehouses in Michigan, on their way to distribute hundreds of thousands of vaccines against Corona in all 50 U.S. states.
Unless there is a last-minute surprise, the first Americans will start getting vaccinated tomorrow.
Tens of thousands of vaccine packets, out of three million expected to be shipped in the coming days, were packed with dry ice in 189 boxes and loaded onto the trucks, which left the factory to the loud applause of the workers.
All trucks are expected to reach distribution centers in all 50 U.S. states today, as the number of American deaths from the plague approaches the 300,000 mark.
Photo: Reuters
About 2.9 million vaccine doses are expected to board aircraft en route to their destination.
General Gustave Parna, the administration's operations officer for the vaccination project, said the vaccines would reach 145 sites on Monday, another 425 on Tuesday and the last 66 on Wednesday.
Perna compared the operation to distribute the vaccines to the Allied invasion of Normandy in World War II.
"D Day (the nickname for the day of the invasion of Normandy, XI) was the beginning of the end, and that is where we are today," he said.
The shipping companies FedEx and UPS will be responsible for shipments in most of the US. The day after the vaccines are shipped they will provide dry ice shipments to the distribution sites, as the vaccines must be kept in minus 70 degrees cold.
Following the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) emergency approval for Pfizer's vaccination on Friday and the recommendation to begin vaccination by the CDC (US Centers for Disease Control) Advisory Committee on Saturday, the final seal was given today.
CDC Chairman Robert Redfield accepted the committee's recommendations and approved the start of vaccinating Americans ages 16 and older.
The first vaccinations will be given, as mentioned, tomorrow, when medical staff and residents of nursing homes will be at the forefront of the queue.
The challenges of vaccine distribution will not end in shipments.
States across the U.S. are already reporting that they do not have the funds and resources needed from the federal government to vaccinate their residents and keep a record of vaccine recipients. This is a particularly important issue, as the vaccine consists of two doses, with the second given three weeks after the first. In a federal aid package, but its approval is delayed in political battles between the White House and Congress.
Outgoing President Trump responded to the vaccine approval: "Almost everyone says, even the enemy, that if I were not president, there would be no vaccine even after five years," he said in an interview with Fox News.
"I pushed the FDA and the companies and everyone, like they hadn't pushed them before… Honestly, they could have approved it last week, they could have done it a week earlier."
FDA chief Stephen Hahn rejected the outgoing president's claims outright.
"We do not feel we could have done it a week earlier," he told ABC.
"We have completed the process. We promised the American people that we will carry out a comprehensive examination of the request for an emergency permit - and we did."