It has been reported that United Airlines began operating charter flights on Friday to get ready to carry Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for distribution, pending approval by the FDA.

The Wall Street Journal reported that chartered flights from United will fly between Brussels International Airport and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport for the “first mass air shipment of a vaccine.” Pfizer will use suitcase sized frozen storage units in cargo planes and in trucks to distribute the vaccine worldwide.

According to WSJ Pfizer has expanded its storage capacities at the following distribution sites: Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin and Karlsruhe, Germany. United Airlines will be permitted to carry five times the amount of dry ice otherwise allowed, to keep the vaccine under the necessary cold temperatures.

The Journal also reported that other airlines are gearing up for future vaccine deliveries.

Earlier on, Andrew Peterson, assistant professor of philosophy, George Mason University, had commented on the complex issues of transportation and distribution of the vaccine at temperatures at or below minus 70.

“The logistics of distributing the Pfizer vaccine, if proven to be safe and effective, will no doubt be a Herculean task,” Peterson told Fox News. “Beyond the challenge of physically transporting the vaccine by air and land to distribution centers across America and internationally, there are additional obstacles of keeping the vaccine at sub-zero temperatures and monitoring deliveries for theft.”

Source FOX News