Workers at Pfizer’s Michigan headquarters paused for a moment and erupted into a round of applause early Sunday morning as the first shipments of the coronavirus vaccine were being moved to a loading dock.
The trucks awaiting the vaccines outside the plant will head to UPS and FedEx hubs across the country to be delivered to 636 predetermined locations in all 50 states.
Of those sites receiving the vaccine, 145 of them should receive it by Monday, with other sites expected to receive it by Wednesday.
The Food and Drug Administration authorized the use of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine late Friday night. An estimated 2.9 million doses are expected to be distributed within a week.
That number is expected to increase to 40 million doses by the end of 2020. In addition to Pfizer’s Michigan plant, it is also using two other plants for manufacturing the vaccine.
Pfizer, along with its partner BioNTech, say based on current predictions, they believe they could supply up to 1.3 billion vaccine doses by the end of 2021.