(CNN) — Pharmaceutical Pfizer announced to reporters that it expects the first shipments of its COVID-19 vaccine to leave its Michigan facility on Sunday morning.
Pfizer originally predicted that the trucks would leave “within 24 hours” of clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which was announced on Friday.
The company did not provide an explanation for the schedule change.
UPS details the process to deliver the vaccine
Months of planning culminate this weekend with the first dose deliveries of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, and the UPS executive overseeing his shipping company’s efforts says it’s an emotional experience.
“Oh, probably the equivalent of going to your daughter’s wedding, I guess,” Wes Wheeler, president of UPS Healthcare, told CNN. “It has been a lot of planning. Lots of phone calls, lots of technology, lots of alignment … As an engineer, I like to plan a lot, so that when the first day comes, everything runs smoothly.
Wheeler said the soon-to-be-launched process at Pfizer’s Kalamazoo, Michigan facility will be heavily choreographed.
“We have people built into the Pfizer Michigan location and they will help Pfizer ship packages,” he explained. “They will be loaded on a trailer, an exclusive trailer, with an escort. They will drive five hours to Louisville, Kentucky, and then they will be sent to our assigned states. “
Also in airplanes
In Louisville, many of the shipments will be loaded onto UPS aircraft. Wheeler said the company’s extensive delivery network means it can ship doses overnight for delivery before 10:30 the next morning. UPS is handling delivery to sites on the eastern side of the US.
The company is also generating 24,000 pounds of dry ice a day that are packaged in special Pfizer containers to keep the vaccine at the required sub-zero temperature.
“The day after the vaccines arrive, we deliver 40 pounds of dry ice to replenish what sublimates from the box,” Wheeler said. “The Pfizer package is good for 10 days with 50 pounds of dry ice in it. And with the 40 pounds that we send the next day. It will give you several more days if necessary for the box to become the storage medium in the dosing center.
Real time monitoring
Tracking devices on each container and truck send information in real time to the UPS command center in Louisville.
The tracking tags have four radios and a Bluetooth device that transmits data, including GPS location, “atmospheric pressure, motion detection, light detection, and of course temperature,” he said. This data provides the company with information on the status of each package and the dry ice it contains.
“We have our eyes on these shipments from origin to final dosage destination,” he explained.
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