PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The first doses of a coronavirus vaccine are expected to arrive in Philadelphia sometime Monday. But the shipment process is a bit tricky.
This week alone, three million doses of Pfizer's vaccine will be spread across the country. For this area, that means front line health care workers or those in long-term care facilities could be rolling up their sleeves very soon.
"We want to ensure the vaccine arrives safely and that it can be effectively administered once arrival occurs," said U.S. Army Gen. Gus Perna, CEO of Operation Warp Speed.
"It is so important that all vaccine that's available is utilized as a shot in an arm and that nothing is wasted. This is our sole focus every single, every waking minute that we have."
Perna projected a three-day rollout for the initial supply.
"We expect 145 sites across all the states to receive vaccine on Monday, another 425 sites on Tuesday and the final 66 sites on wednesday which will complete the initial delivery of the Pfizer orders for a vaccine."
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The vaccine is shipping from Michigan to locations all over the country. Each box the vaccines are shipped in will be equipped with a Bluetooth device and dry ice to keep it cold. The Bluetooth devices will track the location and temperature.
UPS health care president Wes Wheeler told NBC 10 UPS is handling most of the shipments along the East Coast.
"Every time the package hits one of our locations anywhere in the country, we'll be able to see it and we’ll be able to monitor its location and if it gets stuck with any reason we’ll be able to recover," Wheeler explained.
Officials say U.S. Marshals are providing security at Philadelphia International Airport as the shipments arrive.
Philadelphia health officials expect to receive around 15,000 doses of the vaccine. Hospital staff and other health care professionals will be the first to get the shots. Essential workers such as firefighters and grocery store employees will be next in line.
It's unclear, however, how soon each can expect to receive the vaccine. There are at least 70,000 healthcare workers in the city, which means all of them won't be covered in the first batch. It will be up to the hospitals to decide who is priority.