UPS is shipping out its first batch of Johnson & Johnson vaccines Tuesday, now that the single-dose vaccine for the coronavirus has emergency use authorization.
Sandy Springs-based UPS said the vaccine packages were being flown from its Worldport air hub in Louisville, Kentucky to sorting facilities in other parts of the country, then loaded onto UPS trucks for delivery starting Tuesday morning.
This is the third vaccine UPS is shipping, in addition to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines authorized since December. UPS and Memphis-based FedEx Express are splitting the shipments of vaccines allocated by the federal government.
UPS spokesman Glenn Zaccara said in a written statement that the company is monitoring all of its vaccine shipments with temperature recorders and tracking tags, and "delivering with near-perfect on-time performance."
The shipping giant said its temperature-controlled facilities and monitoring technology are designed to handle biologically derived drugs like vaccines.
