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Pfizer Covid vaccine is being sent out TODAY as US sees 16 MILLION cases and nearly 300,000 pandemic deaths
THE FIRST Pfizer coronavirus vaccines have started being sent out by the truckload today as US cases soared past 16 million.
Starting early Sunday morning, workers at Pfizer's manufacturing plant in Michigan loaded doses of the vaccine from freezers into boxes with dry ice.
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They sealed the boxes with packing tape and added shipping labels, then forklift drivers moved the pallets from the factory to semi trucks.
The biggest vaccination effort in US history comes as the country has seen nearly 300,000 deaths and exceeded 16million cases.
On Sunday, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn said that he hopes the first vaccines will be given to Americans on Monday.
“My hope again is that this happens very expeditiously, hopefully tomorrow,” on CNN’s State of the Union.
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“We’ve seen the vaccines go out, we’ve seen the press reports of hospitals waiting to vaccinate healthcare workers and those most vulnerable … It would be my greatest hope and desire that it occur tomorrow.”
About 3million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine were expected to be shipped, with health care workers and nursing home residents first in line to receive the shots.
The first shipments are due at 145 distribution centers on Monday, while 425 more sites should get the vaccine on Tuesday and the final 66 sites on Wednesday.
“It’s very exciting. I will be thrilled, that moment when we administer our first dose,” said Dr Graham Snyder, who heads the vaccine task force for Pennsylvania health care giant UPMC, on Saturday.
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“That will clearly be a watershed moment for us.”
About half of UPMC’s employees are reportedly willing to get the vaccine as soon as it is available to them.
As of Sunday morning, the US had recorded 16,068,348 coronavirus cases, according to John Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering .
The virus has killed about 298,000 Americans and 1.6million people worldwide, and the number of global cases has surpassed 71million.
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Pfizer’s vaccine, co-developed with BioNTech, must be stored at about 94 degrees below zero and containers with dry ice and sensors with GPS are being used to monitor the temperature during shipment.
Doses of the vaccine are being sent to hospitals and sites that can store them at the extremely low temperature.
Federal officials said the doses should arrive at pharmacies and other sites selected by states in three week’s time.
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On Sunday morning, a plane loaded with the first UPS and FedEx shipments of the vaccine departed Gerald R Ford Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for Memphis, .
In order to receive maximum protection against the virus, people must take two doses of the vaccine, meaning that 3million doses will be withheld for the first group to get the second shot several weeks later.
On Friday night, after the FDA approved Pfizer's vaccine for emergency use, said he expected the first shots to be administered within 24 hours.
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Pfizer’s shipments would be going to “every state and zip code” in the US.
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“The governors decide where the vaccines will go in their state, and who will get them first,” Trump said.
"We want our senior citizens, health care workers and first responders to be first in line.”
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