The first shipments of Moderna’s COVID-19 feature began rolling out of stores early Sunday, expanding the vaccination effort to end the pandemic in the U.S.
McKesson Corp., which distributes the vaccine, said in a statement around 6 a.m. that they had begun launching COVID-19 shots and auxiliary supply kits.
Vaccine shipments arrived Saturday at distribution centers to be packaged in containers and loaded onto trucks after the Food and Drug Administration had granted emergency use authorization for drugs.
The vaccine is expected to be rolled out in more than 3,700 locations across the nation.
The U.S. government has said it plans to distribute 5.9 million shots of Moderna this week to more than 2 million Pfizer, which was the first vaccine approved in the U.S.
U.S. Army General Gustave Perna told reporters that Moderna’s first boxes are expected to arrive at health care providers on Monday.
Some states have chosen the Moderna vaccine for harder-to-reach rural areas, as they can be stored for 30 days in standard-temperature refrigerators, unlike Pfizer, which has to be shipped at -94 degrees Fahrenheit and can only be kept for five days at normal refrigerator temperatures.
With publishing cables