United Airlines launches charter flights to distribute Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine: WSJ

United Airlines Holdings Inc. UAL,
-0.74%
Friday began operating charter flights to obtain doses of PFE from Pfizer Inc.,
+ 1.91%
and BNTX from BioNTech SE,
+ 4.79%
The COVID-19 vaccine is ready for rapid distribution if the vaccine candidate is approved by regulators, according to a Wall Street Journal report that quotes people familiar with the subject. Pfizer and BioNTech filed for emergency use approval for the vaccine trial last Friday, making their vaccine candidate the first candidate in line with U.S. regulators. The companies said the vaccine, called BNT162b2, had a 95% effectiveness rate in an advanced stage clinical trial. Pfizer has laid the groundwork to act quickly if it obtains approval from the Food and Drug Administration and other regulators around the world, the Wall Street Journal has said. The distribution plan includes existing and additional refrigerated storage sites in the United States and Europe, in addition to “dozens of freight flights and hundreds of truck trips each day,” the newspaper said. Shares of Pfizer and United rose about 0.1% each in Friday’s extended session.