Transportation workers to be in second group of COVID-19 vaccine deployment
During an emergency webcast on December 1, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) held a virtual public meeting to vote on an interim recommendation regarding who will be the first to receive the novel coronavirus vaccine.
In a 13-to-1 vote, the committee agreed that health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities should be the first to receive the vaccine in its Phase 1a deployment – with essential workers, such as those in the transportation industry, to be the whole of the Phase 1b launch.
The ACIP described the COVID-19 vaccine deployment in three groups:
- Phase 1a: Health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities
- Phase 1b: Essential workers
- Phase 1c: Adults with high-risk medical conditions and adults over the age of 65
While the recommendations are not binding, they have – in the past – determined the scope and funding of U.S. vaccination programs, according to the Associated Press.
ACIP chairman Jose Romero advised final decisions on Phase 1 vaccine deployment will be up to state authorities if they choose to follow the federal guidelines. State authorities face a Friday, December 4, deadline to place initial orders for the Pfizer vaccine and verify where the vaccine should be delivered.
The only member of the committee to oppose the recommendation was Helen Talbot, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, who expressed her lack of confidence before the vote with putting long-term care facility residents in the Phase 1a group because the vaccines hadn’t been studied in that particular population.
“We enter this realm of, ‘We hope it works and we hope it’s safe,’ and that concerns me on many levels,” Talbot said.
Phase 1b
On December 1, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) submitted letters to the White House, the ACIP, President-elect Joe Biden, and the National Governors Association urging them to remember the trucking industry’s essential status as a national vaccine distribution strategy is being formulated by officials across various levels of government.
ATA asked that the trucking industry’s workforce be included in prioritized access pools along with other essential workers – which are the whole of the ACIP’s Phase 1b interim recommendation.
In August 2020, the Cyber Security & Infrastructure Security Agency updated its Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers Guide Version 4.0, which provides guidance on how jurisdictions and critical infrastructure owners can prioritize the ability of essential workers to work safely while supporting ongoing infrastructure operations across the nation.
Version 4.0, which defines 16 critical infrastructure sectors, identifies those essential workers that require specialized risk management strategies to ensure that they can work safely. It can also be used to begin planning and preparing for the allocation of scarce resources used to protect essential workers against COVID-19.
“Our nation’s ability to successfully confront the COVID-19 pandemic depends on the resilience and integrity of our transportation networks,” wrote Bill Sullivan, ATA’s executive vice president of advisory in the letters. “The trucking industry is proud to play an outsized role in COVID-19 response and recovery efforts, and we ask that you consider the essential nature of the trucking workforce as you implement plans for vaccine distribution. As we saw at the outset of the pandemic, when supply lines are disrupted, consequences are fast to follow.”
To avoid these consequences, the U.S. Department of Transportation is currently preparing for the safe transportation of the COVID-19 vaccine once the Food and Drug Administration approves a vaccine.
“The Department has laid the groundwork for the safe transportation of the COVID-19 vaccine and is proud to support this historic endeavor,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
The USDOT has continued its support by establishing a nationwide exemption to hours-of-service regulations for trucking companies and commercial drivers providing direct emergency assistance. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s long-standing Emergency Declaration was also extended on December 1 to support emergency transportation of vaccines, medical supplies, and equipment related to the prevention of COVID-19.
Preparing for COVID-19 vaccine deployment
According to the USDOT, Department agencies and Operation Warp Speed officials have been coordinating with the private sector companies that will carry the vaccines from manufacturing facilities to the distribution centers and medical facilities. The department has also established the appropriate safety requirements for all potential hazards involved in shipping the vaccine, including standards for dry ice and lithium batteries.
On November 24, UPS revealed that, as part of several enhancements to aid in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, “UPS Healthcare can now produce up to 1,200 lbs of dry ice per hour in its U.S. facilities to support the storage and transportation of cold chain products, such as frozen vaccines. The increased production also allows UPS to make dry ice available for U.S. and Canadian hospitals, clinics and other points of care requiring dry ice to store vaccines locally.”
FedEx, which is experienced in moving cold-chain goods such as the flu vaccine and medical samples, is keeping the deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine its highest priority, according to Richard Smith, executive vice president of the Americas for FedEx Express and son of FedEx Chief Executive Officer Fred Smith.
Smith explained to Bloomberg that FedEx uses containers with dry ice, or liquid nitrogen storage units that can keep their contents at such freezing temperatures, as cold as -94 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, for as long as 10 days.
Thermo King, an expert in transporting refrigerated goods, is also preparing for the vaccine shipments, globally as well as in North America.
“Considering the urgent, global need for a COVID-19 vaccine, the world can’t afford breaks in the cold chain,” said Dave Regnery, president and COO of Trane Technologies, the parent company of Thermo King. “Our new cold storage solutions can maintain temperatures of -70 degrees C (-94 degrees F) for an extended period of time, can be leveraged to help reduce degradation of a vaccination, and most importantly, could prevent vaccine ‘deserts’ or lack of accessibility.”
After the ACIP voted, members of the committee were given time to speak as to the reason behind their vote.
“I voted in the affirmative because of this committee’s goal – to maximize benefits and minimize harm while promoting justice and addressing health inequities,” said Romero.
Beth Bell, co-chair of the ACIP, made note on behalf of the panel that all of the members would have liked more data from the clinical trials but said that, because of the pandemic emergency, “we need to act.”
The panel will continue to hold meetings over the next several weeks as vaccines go through the federal approval process.