A COVID-19 vaccine is finally on the way — but it’ll be weeks or more before any of it is shot into Americans’ arms.
Doses of Pfizer’s vaccine began to be shipped aboard United Airlines charter flights on Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
United Airlines airplane takes off over a plane on the runway at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco. (Jeff Chiu/)
Because the vaccine has to be shipped cold, the Federal Aviation Administration has eased its rules on the amount of dry ice allowed on the transport flights.
United is being allowed to pack the vaccines in 15,000 pounds of dry ice per flight — five times the amount permitted by FAA rules, the Journal said.
Dry ice — which is frozen carbon dioxide — is a hazardous material restricted by FAA rules because planes usually lack equipment to detect carbon dioxide gas that might leak from packages.
The flights are the first link in the complicated COVID vaccine supply chain, which is aimed at getting the vaccine to 300 million Americans.
Neal Browning receives a shot in the first-stage safety study clinical trial of a potential vaccine for COVID-19 at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. (Ted S. Warren/)
Video: Qantas becomes first airline to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations (ABC News)
In a statement, the FAA said it is also “prioritizing flights carrying cargo, such as vaccines, and personnel critical to the nation’s response to and recovery from COVID-19.”
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The vaccines will be scarce at first. Centers for Disease Control officials plan a meeting next week to discuss who will be first to get the shots.
Experts say health workers should get the vaccine first. Priority may also go to workers in essential industries, people with medical conditions, and people age 65 and older.
The federal government’s Operation Warp Speed has enlisted military and CDC planners to figure out how to manufacture and distribute the vaccine to 300 million Americans.
Vaccines being developed by Pfizer and other companies will require people to get two shots several weeks apart.
That poses a logistical problem — medical personnel will have to track those who get shots and remind them they need a second dose.
It also requires planners to boost the number of syringes, needles and other equipment needed to distribute the vaccine safely.
Aside from the logistical issues, COVID-19 vaccines are still awaiting government approval. The FDA may give emergency approval to one or more vaccines in December.
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November 28, 2020 at 08:29AM
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COVID-19 vaccine doses finally on the way aboard United Airlines charter flights — distribution awaits FDA's OK - msnNOW
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