‘BEGINNING OF THE END’

First Coronavirus Vaccines Will Arrive in All 50 U.S. States on Monday

The Pfizer vaccine received emergency use authorization from the FDA on Friday evening.

The first coronavirus vaccines will be shipped out Sunday and arrive at locations across the country on Monday morning, the leaders of the government’s Operation Warp Speed said on Saturday morning after the FDA granted emergency use authorization. “D-Day was the beginning of the end, and that’s where we are today,” General Gus Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, said. The U.S. hit 16 million coronavirus cases on Saturday, and deaths inched towards 300,000. “We are not done until every American has access to this vaccine, until every American that wants it, receives it,” Perna said.

The first doses of the vaccine will be given to hospital workers and nursing home patients. After that, it’s up to individual states to decide priority. The shipment process is complicated by the fact that Pfizer’s vaccine needs to be stored at -94 degrees. It’ll be transported from Pfizer’s manufacturing plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan to states via dry ice boxes. The FDA is looking to authorize emergency use of Moderna’s vaccine on Thursday.