President Joe Biden toured a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing plant Friday afternoon outside Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he touted the safety of the vaccine.
"If there's one message to cut through to everyone in this country, it's this: The vaccines are safe,” he said, according to NBC News. “Please, for yourself, your family, your community, this country, take the vaccine when it's your turn ... that's how to beat this pandemic."
During his tour of the “freezer farm,” where doses are stored in ultra-cold conditions, he was joined by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and White House virus-response coordinator Jeff Zienets. The presidential visit had been delayed by a day because of inclement weather.
Speaking before Biden, Bourla said Pfizer would more than double vaccine production capacity in the coming weeks, the Daily Mail reported. Currently it averages 5 million doses per week.
On Friday, Pfizer and its vaccine partner BioNTech said they had asked the Food and Drug Administration to allow the vaccine to be stored in normal freezers, a move that would make it easier for the company to ship the vaccine. Currently, the FDA requires the virus to be stored between -112°F and -76°F.
Earlier Friday, the administration said the winter storms in the Midwest and South had delayed the delivery of 6 million vaccine doses, which would impact every state. The 6 million represents three days' worth of vaccine shipments.
The administration also said it was working with Florida and Pennsylvania to open more vaccination centers.
(VOA)