That is how Senator Tammy Duckworth described the task of\ndistributing COVID-19 vaccines throughout entire country. She used those words\nduring a Thursday-morning hearing convened by the Senate Subcommittee on\nTransportation and Safety. The question on the Subcommittee members\u2019 minds:\n\u201cCan we meet the challenge?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This inquiry was focused on the two shipping companies\ntasked with delivering the vaccines throughout the country, as well as the\nstate and local governments who will implement community distribution of the\nmedicines. The shipping companies were represented by two senior executives,\nRichard Smith (FedEx) and Wes Wheeler (UPS). State and local governments were\nrepresented by Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health, and\nPresident of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Industry Challenges \u2013 Safe & reliable transportation:\nThe Committee estimates that a gargantuan 660 million doses of the vaccines\nwill be required to inoculate every American who wants the cure. This colossal\nneed for the medication means there will be none to spare. As a result, any\ndelay or spoilage of the vaccines during transportation is literally a matter\nof life and death. And to complicate matters, the drugs must be transported and\nstored at extremely low temperatures; as low as -94*F.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the White House\u2019s \u201cOperation Warp Speed,\u201d FedEx and\nUPS have been entrusted with a tremendous responsibility: safely conducting the\nvaccines from their points of origin to the myriad distribution locations identified\nby state governments. This formidable obligation is placed on the two companies\njust as the peak holiday season is approaching; a time of year when demand on\nshipping capacity is already at its apex. And this year will likely see the\nlargest-ever peak in demand, due to the e-commerce boom spawned by the\npandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/3B1A4204edit.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nFedEx and UPS believe they are prepared. They\u2019re giving the\nvaccines top priority in their transportation networks. They\u2019ve hired tens of\nthousands of extra staff to help ensure that the medicines will be the first\nitems on and off the planes and trucks. But that\u2019s not all. The companies have\ncoordinated with the FAA to ensure that aircraft carrying vaccines will receive\npreferential treatment. Also, the shipping titans are deploying technology that\nwill allow them to remotely monitor \u2013 at all times \u2013 the location, temperature,\nand other parameters for each individual package. The firms will accomplish\nthis omniscience by using (among other things) remote-frequency identification\ntags. These \u201cRFID\u201d tags are so small and thin that many could pass for business\ncards \u2013 yet each contains multiple radio transmitters and receivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Greek mythology, magical high-tech allowed Hermes to\nbecome the wing-footed messenger of the gods. But ancient lore also tells the\ntale of Achilles\u2019 vulnerable heel. Perhaps the Subcommittee had this parable in\nmind during the hearing: three different Senators brought up the threat of\ncyber-attack. UPS and FedEx were prepared for the questions. The companies\nfirmly believe that they have hardened their communications networks against\nelectronic attack, as well as trained their people how to identify, avoid, and\n\u2013 if necessary \u2013 repel it. Also, the shippers\u2019 safety measures are not limited\nto the virtual environment. For example, in certain cases they will be\nproviding security escorts for their 18-wheelers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These were some of the answers that Messrs. Wheeler and\nSmith offered to allay a few of the Senators\u2019 most pressing concerns. But the\nSubcommittee\u2019s underlying apprehension were, \u201cWill it be enough?\u201d and \u201cCan that\nlevel of safety and service be maintained through the spring, and possibly even\ninto the summer of 2021?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two freight giants appear confident that their massive\nlogistics network is up to the task. But, as one Senator noted, \u201c2020 has\ntaught us to expect the worst.\u201d Nonetheless, to paraphrase one of the\ntransportation executives, FedEx and UPS are in the contingency-planning\nbusiness. The companies\u2019 job is to plan thoroughly but expect the unexpected.\n\u201cMak[ing] on-the-fly adjustments . . . is what we do,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FedEx and UPS both claim that they each, respectively, have\nthe ability to deliver to every zip code in the United States, \u201cnext day,\u201d by\n10:30am. The two organizations rank among the world\u2019s largest airlines and\nground-transportation fleets. Combined, they regularly deliver more than 30\nmillion packages per day. And, as they reminded the Senators, they \u201chave a long\nhistory\u201d of delivering high-value, time-sensitive, temperature-fragile packages\n\u2013 including pharamaceuticals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bottom line:<\/strong> UPS and FedEx believe that Americans can count on them to deliver the vaccines everywhere they\u2019re needed, even in \u201chard-to-serve communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n State & Local Challenges \u2013 Looking beyond delivery:\nSecretary Levine told the Subcommittee that the \u201cchallenges we face\u201d go beyond\n\u201chow to get the vaccines from A to B.\u201d States are struggling to promote public\nconfidence in the drugs. They don\u2019t have enough staff or funding to accomplish\nthe mission (to say nothing of actually administering the injections). The\nSecretary pointed out that the $300 million dollars in federal funds currently\nallocated to states, cities, etc. amounts to less than $1 per citizen. And\nthat\u2019s far too little. The sum\u2019s inadequacy was underscored by the amount of\nsupplemental funding requested by the Association of Immunization Managers: an\nadditional $8.4 billion dollars. But Dr. Levine also made it clear that money\nitself is not a panacea. Federal, state, and local governments must ensure they\ncommunicate well with each other \u2013 and their citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In short:<\/strong> Funding, communication, and manpower are the requisite ingredients to build community trust in the cure, acquire enough personnel to administer it, and provide Americans with equal and equitable access \u2013 wherever they live.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Michael J. Schoen Distributing the vaccines \u201cmay be the most complex logistical challenge our nation has ever faced.\u201d That is how Senator Tammy Duckworth described the task of distributing COVID-19 vaccines throughout entire country. She used those words during a Thursday-morning hearing convened by the Senate Subcommittee on Transportation and Safety. The question on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17163,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Boeing-747-8Fedit.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17162"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17165,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17162\/revisions\/17165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}