HHS Releases COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Plan

Distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. will begin within 24 hours of getting the go-ahead from regulators, under a new distribution plan unveiled yesterday by HHS.

The strategy, released along with a separate “interim playbook” from the CDC for vaccinations by state and local public health programs, calls on them to develop their own vaccination plans that would go into effect in January 2021.

The state and local governments have 30 days to submit their plans for receiving and distributing vaccines to the federal authorities.

The administration’s goal is for distribution to begin immediately upon the FDA granting an Emergency Use Authorization or a biologics license application (BLA). The administration is planning to distribute an initial supply to healthcare workers and to individuals at an increased risk for severe illness, before gradually making it more widely available as the supply increases.

HHS previously announced that it would use a centralized approach and would direct McKesson as the main distributor to use its nationwide distribution network (DID, Aug 17). Once vaccines are allocated to certain jurisdictions, McKesson will deliver a specific amount to those areas. The delivery locations will mainly be sites where the vaccine will be administered but they may also be distributed to local and national pharmacies.

“As part of Operation Warp Speed, we have been laying the groundwork for months to distribute and administer a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it meets FDA’s gold standard,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar, who has had to make repeated assurances that the FDA is free to make an independent, science-based decision to authorize or approve a vaccine.

President Trump has repeatedly suggested that a vaccine could be ready by next month, but National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins told a Senate panel last week that a vaccine would more likely be ready by the end of the year (DID, Sept. 10).

Vaccine manufacturers have been producing the vaccines so they will be ready to distribute as soon as they get the green light.

Read the vaccine distribution strategy here: bit.ly/3kv0hZD. — Jordan Williams