HHS has signed a deal with McKesson to be a central distributor of a COVID-19 vaccine and the supplies needed to administer it, the department said Aug. 14.
The partnership, which includes the U.S. Defense Department, is part of Operation Warp Speed, the White House task force designed to speed the delivery of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.
HHS said the CDC is executing an existing contract it signed with Irving, Texas-based McKesson in 2016 that includes an option for McKesson to distribute vaccines in the event of a pandemic. McKesson distributed H1N1 vaccines during the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 and 2019.
McKesson will work under the CDC's guidance to ship COVID-19 vaccines to administration sites once a vaccine is approved.
Read the full news release here.