States, Territories Finalize Pfizer Vaccine Distribution and Administration Strategies as EUA Looms

With FDA emergency authorization seeming very likely for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine within days, all 50 states and U.S. territories have finalized their individual “microplans” for distribution and administration, according to an Operation Warp Speed official.

All U.S. states and territories were required to develop microplans, strategies based on their existing plans and what has been learned from the federal government’s five-state pilot program that outlines vaccination sites and logistical considerations for Pfizer’s vaccine. This past Friday, those strategies were finalized, Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, announced during a briefing Wednesday.

Perna, who said that the government is still on track to begin shipments for vaccines within 24 hours of an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA, added that distribution began Wednesday for vaccine materials — syringes, needles, alcohol wipes and dilutant, a necessary agent for the Pfizer vaccine — and will be done by Friday. The FDA’s vaccine advisory committee meets today to discuss an EUA for the Pfizer vaccine.

The federal government has placed 500,000 Pfizer vaccine shots in reserve, meaning that the initial rollout will involve 5.8 million doses, Perna said, enough to vaccinate approximately 2.9 million high-risk patients during the first wave of shots. Pfizer’s vaccine will require shipping at -94 Fahrenheit (F), which presents logistical challenges that the company is working to tackle within its own distribution strategy with help from the federal government (DID, Dec. 9).

The U.S. should have enough Pfizer and Moderna doses combined to vaccinate 20 million people by year’s end, 50 million by the end of January, and at least 100 million by the end of the first quarter, said HHS Secretary Alex Azar, and enough vaccines all around for any citizen who wants to be vaccinated by the time the second quarter of next year wraps up.

“We remain confident that across our portfolio of multiple vaccines, we will have enough doses for any American who wants a vaccine by the end of the second quarter of 2021,” Azar said.

In a media briefing Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden said his goal is to have 100 million people vaccinated against the virus in the first 100 days of his administration.

States and territories are also working closely with the feds on their microplans for the Moderna vaccine. Jurisdictions received their final allocation numbers for the Moderna vaccine this week, Perna said, though the numbers have not been disclosed. Moderna’s vaccine does not appear to be as difficult to distribute, as it only requires shipping temperatures of -4F and can be kept in a refrigerator for 30 days.

The U.S. has purchased 100 million doses of Moderna’s mRNA-1273 vaccine with an option for 400 million more.

“[Tuesday night], final lock of allocations was provided to the jurisdictions. Today, tomorrow and Friday they will lock in locations and quantities, and hence will be prepared for … eventual approval of the EUA for Moderna,” Perna said Wednesday.

Moderna’s vaccine, also seen as a strong contender for emergency authorization, could be authorized shortly after a Pfizer vaccine EUA, as it’s due to be discussed by the vaccines advisory committee Dec. 17. — James Miessler