PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is now making its way to different parts of the country.
UPS is working with Operation Warp Speed to get doses of the vaccine to where they have to be for those first in line to receive the shot, including health care workers, then staff and residents of long-term care facilities.
About 145 distribution centers across the U.S. will get the vaccine Monday.
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Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Tom Farley spoke to NBC10 about the plan for Tuesday.
"We're gonna distribute it to hospitals, initially to a small number of hospitals, that will redistribute it to every other hospital in the city," he said.
Initially, they'll be moving tens of thousands of doses, he said. Then, on Wednesday, Farley said, the first health care workers in Philadelphia will get vaccinated.
Temple University nurse Mary Abramson told NBC 10 she signed up right away and is scheduled to receive a shot on Thursday.
“This is the first tiny bit of hope that I’ve been able to cling to,” she admitted. “It’s been a long 10 months.”
Abramson works in the COVID-19 ICU unit where she’s caring for sick patients and, more recently, grieving the loss of a family member who died from the virus.
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New Jersey will start getting them Tuesday as well. Gov. Phil Murphy said they have 76,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine ready to be administered, and the first in line will be at University Hospital in Newark. Murphy will be in attendance.
"Our hopes are for timing, as one group of vaccine recipients receive their second dose, a new traunch of recipients will receive their first. This overlap, or as I’ve called it, overlapping waves, will allow us to ensure our vaccine progress,” he said.
He said these first few weeks will be a learning period.
“Our vaccination program will become much more robust over the coming weeks. Our health care workers and long-term care facility residents and staff remain our top priority for initial vaccinations,” he said. “We are also in for several hard months, especially the next six to eight weeks. As vaccinations move forward, we are also facing stiff headwinds from the second wave.”
Murphy predicted that "everyone will have access to one of these vaccines" by April or May.
Initial distribution
This week alone, 3 million doses of the vaccine will be spread across the country, said U.S. Army Gen. Gus Perna, who is leading Operation Warp Speed. He projected a three-day rollout for the initial supply.
As for the challenges, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said this goes way beyond getting the vaccine from point A to point B.
This vaccine needs to be stored at the ultra-cold temperature of -94 degrees. Pfizer developed special shipping containers with dry ice for the vaccine. The company said it can use Bluetooth-enabled GPS thermal sensors to track shipments and to make sure they are being stored safely around the country.
Following health care workers and nursing home residents and staff, other high-risk groups will be next to receive the vaccine. Most in the general public may not have access to it until the spring, at the earliest.
As such, health officials stress the need for continued mask-wearing and social distancing.