US prepares for massive vaccine distribution effort that could begin by early November

ATLANTA - Raul Castro, a legal assistant from Decatur, Georgia, is helping test an experimental COVID-19 vaccine made by the Massachusetts biotech firm Moderna.

It's one of several test vaccines now in phase III clinical trials in the US, as states scramble to put together plans to begin distributing vaccines in less than two months.

The Trump Administration's new target date for launching the distribution process is November 1, 2020, two days before the US Presidential election.

Joshua Wyche, Director of Pharmacy at Augusta University Health System, part of the Medical College of Georgia, says the CDC has already identified four priority groups, likely to receive the first available vaccine. 

They include:

• healthcare workers
• essential workers (like those working in farming, education, and law enforcement)
• people with underlying health conditions
• senior adults age 65 and older

"These four groups encompass half of the US population," Wyche says.  "That is no small feat."

To be able to roll out the vaccine quickly, the US is already manufacturing and stockpiling experimental vaccines,  like Moderna's mRNA vaccine.

The US government is helping fund the cost of producing vaccines that may or may not prove effective and safe in the long run.

It is a major financial gamble that could allow the US to scale up distribution quickly, rolling out hundreds of millions of doses, once the FDA approves the vaccines, which is not a given.

Sign up for FOX 5 email alerts

There will likely be several types of vaccines aimed at different population groups, Wyche says.

There is also the question of how to get the vaccines, which will likely need to be delivered in two doses, about a month apart, out to everyday Americans.

"The expectation that hospitals and private practice are going to be able to be able to meet this demand is just a fallacy, quite frankly," he says.  "We're going to need every avenue, every single (distribution) point."

Wyche says there are other logistical challenges, like how to store the vaccine.

"The vaccines aren't like a pill that we get at Walmart or our local pharmacy, and they all have unique storage needs, such that one of the candidates requires storage at minus 80 degrees Celsius," Wyche says.  "To give you an idea, this is where the rubber begins to break apart.  So, not every pharmacy, not every doctor's office, and, quite frankly, not every hospital even has that storage capacity."

Download the FOX 5 Atlanta app for breaking news and weather alerts.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's office says the state is organizing a vaccine distribution working group and plans to meet with officials at the CDC and the vaccine distributor McKesson in the weeks to come.

Kemp's Director of Communications, Candice Broce released a written statement, saying, 'State officials will leverage the Peach State's world-renowned logistics network and collaborate with private-sector partners to deliver the COVID vaccination to vulnerable populations as soon as it becomes available.'"

Wyche cautions that getting this vaccine out will take incredible teamwork and patience.

"There is not going to be a perfect solution, and I think we've got to understand that going into this," he says.  "We can't let perfect be the enemy of the good.  I think we need to come up with the best possible solution and evolve it each day to make it meet the needs of all Americans."