Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NBC that Americans should have confidence in distribution plans for a Covid-19 vaccine due to a long history of vaccine distribution, despite problems with testing strategies.
“The reason that we should feel more confident about that, Chuck, is that we have a long, long history of the distribution of vaccines,” Fauci told Chuck Todd on Sunday.
While it isn’t to the extent that vaccine goes to 300 million people, every year the system is set up so that they distribute 80 million or more vaccines, he said on "Meet the Press."
“This isn’t something that they’ve done just for the first time, obviously you’re going to want to scale it up because the numbers are going to be greater,” he said.
More details: There are a couple of aspects to getting vaccine into the arm of someone who needs it, Fauci said.
The first is to get transport from where it is being made and stored to the localities that need it, which Fauci said is being handled by General Gus Perna and the military.
Once the vaccine gets there, the state and local authorities are responsible for the distribution.
“The part about 300 million doses getting shipped is going to be taken care of by people who know how to do that,” he said. “The part at the distal end, namely getting into people's arms, is going to be more challenging than just the regular flu season. I think you'd be foolish to deny that. But I think it's going to be able to be done because the local people have done that in the past. Hopefully, they'll get the resources to help them to do that.”