The Mass Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccines Is Under Way

The Wall Street Journal reports that a massive coordination effort is needed for the U.S. distribution of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to be successful. "The biggest concern that I have is not that we don't know what to do. We have contingency plans in place for just about everything," said Shawn Seamans at McKesson, which is now dispatching syringes and other supplies for administering the vaccine. "You don't know if it's going to work until you get there." Long-term care communities are expected to get most of their vaccines via CVS and Walgreens, and the chains said they expect to receive supplies via FedEx or UPS in roughly 1,000 hubs from which teams of pharmacists and other staffers will go to the various senior communities. The most challenging aspect of delivering the vaccine is the need to keep it chilled at -94 degrees Fahrenheit as it travels and awaits use at vaccination sites. "Everything has to come together — the packaging, the dry ice, the vials, the material itself," said Yossi Sheffi at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Transportation & Logistics.