A FedEx Express cargo plane left Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at 11 a.m. Sunday on a regularly scheduled flight headed to Memphis with one of the first shipments of vaccine,.
The Airbus A300 aircraft made the flight in 90 minutes.
FedEx operates a facility at the Grand Rapids airport and will likely handle vaccine shipments on an ongoing basis for the foreseeable future.
The Food and Drug Administration late Friday issued an emergency use authorization for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, putting into motion the largest logistical effort in modern history to immunize 7.8 billion people worldwide as quickly as possible.
Operation Warp Speed has allotted 6.4 million doses of Pfizer vaccine for initial distribution, based on availability. The express carriers will deliver 2.9 million doses this week and another 2.9 million doses in a couple of weeks. OWS is holding back 500,000 doses as a backup for emergency contingencies.
The Pfizer vaccine requires two doses taken 17 to 21 days apart for maximum effectiveness. Frontline medical workers and nursing home staff and residents are expected to get the first treatments.
