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In the News: COVID-19 Vaccine Logistics

Temperature-controlled shipping remains in the mainstream media spotlight.

General Gus Perna, who leads Operation Warp Speed, speaking to 60 Minutes.
General Gus Perna, who leads Operation Warp Speed, speaking to 60 Minutes.
CBS News/60 Minutes

In the healthcare packaging community, we know that development of a drug or vaccine is only one piece of the puzzle (albeit a critical one) in public health.

Packaging and logistics must deliver products safely to some 300 million patients spread far and wide. While COVID-19 continues to dominate headlines, and we continue our ongoing coverage, news of Pfizer’s 90% vaccine trial efficacy rate brings logistics to the forefront in the mainstream media. In case you missed it:

60 Minutes’ β€œA Shot in the Arm” reports on Operation Warp Speed (OWS), the military efforts underway to inoculate 300 million Americans with an anticipated COVID-19 vaccine. The segment talks about temperature controlled storage and distribution (including lack thereof in places like the U.S. Virgin Islands), particularly for vaccines that must be stored at -80 C.

As Marion Whicker, executive director at the U.S. Army, says, β€œThe Virgin Islands has already reported in that they don't have ultra-cold freezers. That's okay. And that they don't have an ability to dry ice. But what we do know is that we can very quickly move dry ice from Puerto Rico." 

The report noted that OWS is stockpiling kits of the needles, syringes and alcohol swabs, and distributor McKesson has produced enough kits for 88 million shots.

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