GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Gerald R. Ford International Airport is preparing to serve as a national and international gateway for distribution, as the Food & Drug Administration gives the green light to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.
With a 10,000-foot runway able to handle large planes, dedicated cargo facility, ground support and the capacity needed to stage and transport billions of doses of the vaccine which must be kept at negative 94°F, the Gerald R. Ford International Airport is the closest international airport to Pfizer’s Portage manufacturing operations with the infrastructure needed to support the transportation process.
“We’re here, we’re ready to help and we’re eager to get to work,” said Torrance Richardson, president and CEO of the Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority. “We have invested in the infrastructure needed to accommodate the wide-body aircraft that will be used to transport the vaccine – and we have the team in place to handle the aggressive delivery schedule. Ford Airport is honored to be a key part of the distribution chain for Pfizer’s life-saving vaccine. We often say our Airport is the gateway to the world – this gives us the opportunity to underscore that in an exceptionally meaningful way.”