Boxes of drugmaker Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccines rolled off assembly lines in Michigan while the cameras rolled early Sunday, offering the first tangible sign that help is on the way as the nation reels from the deadly pandemic.
Workers donning bright yellow Pfizer shirts, masks and face shields filled “thermal shippers” that keep trays of vials at minus-94 degrees Fahrenheit. One star of the assembly line in Kalamazoo used a blue bucket to fill the boxes with dry ice.
The team sealed the boxes with packaging tape and scanned bar codes as part of the massive logistics operation.
The packers got a big round of applause from colleagues as they walked off the packing line. Forklifts carted the boxes off on wooden pallets and loaded them onto trucks.
A FedEx truck labeled “Custom Critical” pulled away from the warehouse shortly after 8 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Vaccines will arrive in all the states within 24 hours or so, with nearly 3 million doses in all reaching more than 600 sites through Wednesday.
President Trump’s vaccine team said it is holding another 2.9 million doses in reserve so the first recipients can be assured their booster-shot dose 21 days later.
Operation Warp Speed is holding back 500,000 doses in case of early mishaps.
The operation expects to send out 40 million doses before the end of the year in a historic effort to wind down the pandemic that’s killed nearly 298,000 people in the U.S.
A second mRNA vaccine, from Moderna, could be approved before the end of the coming week.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.