The Trump administration announced Friday that McKesson Corporation will be a “central distributor” of any COVID-19 vaccine and related supplies as the government prepares for an unprecedented public-health effort.
The deal stems from an existing contract that was awarded to McKesson, a well-known pharmaceutical distributor, after a competitive bidding process in 2016.
McKesson played a key role in distributing the H1N1 vaccine in 2009, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Today’s announcement puts another building block in place as the nation moves toward a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine,” said Director Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Officials said McKesson will work under CDC’s guidance to distribute a vaccine, once one is approved.
President Trump is hoping to land a successful vaccine as soon as possible to gain control of a pandemic that’s infected at least 5 million Americans, killing over 167,000.
Vaccine candidates from leading drugmakers are being tested in massive, phase-3 human trials, with results expected by the end of the year or January 2021.
In the meantime, the government is putting in place the tools and procedures needed to get the shots out the door quickly.
The administration says the Defense Department will play a role in standing up the manufacturing capacity and manpower needed to produce the vaccine en masse.
Officials want to provide the shots to all Americans at no cost, with an initial rollout of tens of millions of doses that will be administered to priority groups.
“I would think the elderly, people who are most vulnerable to the disease,” Mr. Trump told a reporter whoa asked Friday which groups would get it first.
Health workers who treat infected persons are considered a top priority, too.
Mr. Trump signaled he’d be willing to receive the vaccine, personally.
“I’ll go first or last,” he said. “I’ll do whatever they want me to do.”
