Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Flown to US from Belgium in First Mass Air Shipment for Quick Distribution

The first batch of COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. (New York, NY, USA) and Biopharmaceutical New Technologies (BioNTech Mainz, Germany) has been flown over to the US from Belgium.

A report in Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has said that Pfizer has begun using charter flights to position doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for quick distribution upon approval by regulators. Pfizer and BioNTech recently submitted a request to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of their mRNA vaccine candidate, BNT162b2 against SARS-CoV-2. An FDA advisory committee is scheduled to meet on December 10 to vote on whether to recommend the vaccine for approval. Pfizer and BioNTech have said that they are ready to distribute the vaccine candidate within hours after authorization. Their combined manufacturing network has the potential to supply up to 50 million vaccine doses globally in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021 (subject to clinical success, manufacturing capacity, and regulatory approval or authorization).

Based on the expected FDA approval, Pfizer is ramping up preparations for the distribution of its COVID-19 vaccine. Chartered flights have reportedly begun carrying doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to multiple areas around the US. According to the FDA’s rules, a vaccine can be shipped to the actual administration sites only after it has been licensed or authorized by the agency. Pfizer cannot deliver its COVID-19 vaccine to doctors, but can pre-position its vaccine at the distribution sites to enable quicker delivery once it receives FDA authorization.

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Pfizer Inc.
Biopharmaceutical New Technologies