News Room

On the day that a COVID-19 vaccine is approved, a vast logistics operation will need to awaken. Millions of doses must travel hundreds of miles from manufacturers to hospitals, doctor’s offices, and pharmacies, which in turn must store, track, and eventually get the vaccines to people all across the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with state and local health departments, coordinates this process. These agencies distributed flu vaccines during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic this way, and they manage childhood vaccines every day. But the COVID-19 vaccine will be a whole new challenge.

Just like a fresh piece of fish, vaccines are highly perishable products and must be kept at very cold, specific temperatures. The majority of COVID-19 vaccines under development—like the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines—are new RNA-based vaccines. If they get too warm or too cold they spoil. And, just like fish, a spoiled vaccine must be thrown away. So how do companies and public health agencies get vaccines to the people who need them?

When you’re flying along in seat 11C, midway through your flight, rarely do you think about what’s in the cargo hold below. In addition to luggage, mail, and pallets of freight, human organs are sometimes on the manifest. If a human organ needs to cover a significant distance in the quickest possible time, regular commercial flights are often the best way to do this.

We are now on the cusp of flu season, and Americans this year are being strongly encouraged to get the influenza vaccine to avoid what doctors are calling the twin-demic. The collision of flu season with the COVID-19 pandemic is putting healthcare's infrastructure to the test. “We really need to be aware when flu and COVID hit at the same time which they will do this fall and winter, that we need to be prepared to respond in real-time,” health systems expert Dr. Julie Swann said.

The United States has just passed the dark milestone of 200,000 COVID-19 deaths, with many experts warning of the possibility of hundreds of thousands more dead and gravely ill in the months ahead. The country has also experienced enormous economic and social upheaval, with millions forced into unemployment, hunger, and homelessness. In the absence of a vaccine, the interventions policies that are known to stop the spread of the coronavirus—like stay-at-home orders and school closures—have also upended the course of normal life.