HHS Names McKesson a Main Distributor for COVID-19 Vaccines

The U.S. government has chosen distribution giant McKesson as a “central distributor” of COVID-19 vaccines and supplies needed to administer them once an approval or emergency authorization is granted.

The arrangement, which is being made under the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed initiative, activates a distribution option in an existing contract granted to McKesson in 2016.  Under the deal, the company will team up with the federal government to help distribute the vaccine, which could involve hundreds of millions of doses.

HHS said it is currently engaged in “detailed planning” to ensure a vaccine is distributed quickly across the U.S. immediately after an FDA approval or authorization. McKesson will work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s direction to ship vaccines to administration sites.

McKesson is America’s largest distributor of seasonal flu vaccine, and it has worked with the government in the past, helping to distribute the H1N1 vaccine during the 2009-2010 swine flu pandemic. — James Miessler