'A significant day' | UPS receives kits to administer COVID-19 vaccine once it's approved | Local News

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Each box is packed with possibility.

UPS has a major role in distributing the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines, and the kits necessary to administer doses are already being shipped to locations across the country, including Louisville.

"It's significant day," said Jim Mayer, public relations manager for UPS Airlines. "... Today we're taking that fight to a new level."

Each kit is a 40-pound box packed with syringes, masks, sanitizer and a diluting agent. Mayer said UPS unpacked and shipped the first 1,000 kits overnight — with deliveries to every state.

"We've informed all of our drivers across the country what's in those boxes and how important it is," he said. "Our goal is to have 100% accuracy in delivering those."

To track these kits, UPS opened a new healthcare command center in Louisville.

"The moment it looks like there might be some kind of issue — weather, a mechanical problem — we have people (in) real time looking at those shipments and coming up with backup plans," Mayer said.

The next piece of the puzzle: the vaccine, which will be shipped out when the FDA grants emergency use authority. A U.S. government advisory panel on Thursday endorsed widespread use of Pfizer’s vaccine to help conquer the outbreak that has killed close to 300,000 Americans. Shots could begin within days, depending on how quickly the FDA signs off, as expected, on the committee’s recommendation.

"When the FDA issues its emergency authorization for the vaccine, it's going to hit our network," Mayer said. "We're going to start delivering immediately.

"... Everyone is working together, regardless of whatever the relationship might be," he added. "The government, the transportation companies, the pharmaceutical companies are all working together in concert to get this vaccine out once it’s approved and as soon as they possibly can."

Millions of vaccine doses are likely to be stored at UPS' global air hub in Louisville before they're shipped all over the world. UPS officials confirmed that the company has been building freezer farms in Louisville as well as in the Netherlands to store vaccine doses, according to previous WDRB News reporting.

"UPS Worldport is the largest air hub in UPS’ network. This is the key point," Mayer said.

Plans call for about 150 freezers at the Louisville facility, with the potential for more based on demand. Each freezer can reach temperatures of negative 80 degrees Celsius and store 48,000 doses, according to USP. The freezers are necessary because Pfizer's vaccine — one of three in the works — needs to be kept at negative 70 degrees Celsius (-94 Fahrenheit) to be effective.

The freezer farm is near the UPS Worldport global air hub at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, but the company won’t say exactly where.

UPS officials say the company has also been ramping up its capability to produce dry ice, which is necessary to keep the doses cold when they're in transit. The dry ice will also be available for hospitals, clinics and other locations that need it to keep the doses at the correct temperature.

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