Pfizer Ships Covid-19 Vaccine Shots for Distribution

Less than a year after the coronavirus crisis erupted, a massive mobilization to deliver a vaccine is underway, and Britain has emerged as a proving ground.

Having cleared the shot from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, the U.K. is set to become the first Western country to vaccinate its citizens, a turning point in the battle to halt a pathogen that has killed more than 1.5 million people. Britons are expected to begin rolling up their sleeves Tuesday, with about 50 hospitals initially taking part in the campaign.

As the focus shifts from research and development to distribution, the country of 67 million people finds itself in the spotlight. Deployment of the Pfizer vaccine -- along with potential shots from Moderna Inc., AstraZeneca Plc and others waiting in the wings -- will need to overcome a series of production and logistics hurdles. Health systems also must convince some medical workers and members of the public that it’s safe to take the jab.

“We’ve demonstrated the power of science, ingenuity and ambition,” said Rajeev Venkayya, president of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.’s vaccines business. “If we can do that as a global community, I believe we can certainly figure out how to get distribution done. That’s not to say we’re not going to run into problems. Of course we will. We’ve never done this before.”

Britain, like some other Western governments, has faced criticism over its approach to testing, contact tracing and other parts of its response: The pressure is on to avoid such snags with inoculations. Heading into a potentially grim winter, hospitals across the country are already under strain.

The country should brace for some “hard months,” the chief medical officers of the U.K. wrote in a Dec. 4 letter, warning that socializing around Christmas could put additional stress on hospitals into the new year. Immunizations may help reduce Covid hospital admissions and deaths significantly by spring, they wrote, “but there are many weeks before we get to that stage.”

Getting a vaccine swiftly to tens of millions of people is a huge challenge, and Pfizer’s product adds to the complexities. The shot has to be transported at about minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit), colder than winter in Antarctica. After arriving, it can be stored in freezers, in a hospital fridge for five days, or up to 15 days in special Pfizer thermal shippers filled with dry ice.

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