KYW Newsradio's Medical Reports are sponsored by Independence Blue Cross.
By Dr. Brian McDonough, Medical Editor
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Public health officials commonly say that vaccines don't save lives, it's vaccinations that save lives.
Perhaps the biggest task in a massive vaccination program is delivering and distributing the vaccine so that it gets in the hands of those delivering the vaccine to patients.
We know it will take well into 2021 before enough vaccines are ready for everyone, but there are numerous challenges to be faced ahead of that time, including moving and storing a vaccine that must be continuously kept at freezing temperatures, identifying and locating groups of individuals who have been chosen for priority access on the basis of their risk or employment, tracking every dose to monitor for safety and uptake, and communicating about vaccine safety and effectiveness.
Each of these steps takes incredible organization and planning. Some of the world's greatest scientific minds have done their job, now it comes down to those who are geniuses in areas like operations supply chain — the next heroes we will be rooting for.
