Ford Buys Freezers to Store COVID-19 Vaccine When Available

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) —
A worker passes a line of freezers holding coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine. (Pfizer/Handout via Reuters/File Photo)

Ford Motor Co. bought a dozen ultra-cold freezers to store a COVID-19 vaccine that —once available— will be distributed to employees on a voluntary basis.

The Dearborn-based automaker said the freezer purchase is the first step in a broader vaccine distribution plan, The Detroit News reported Tuesday.

“The health and safety of our workforce is our top priority,” Ford spokeswoman Kelli Felker said Tuesday.

“We’ve got a lot of safety protocols we have in place right now that are requirements in our plants and facilities,” Felker added. “This would be another layer on top of what we’re already doing to help keep our employees safe. We do take COVID very seriously.”

General Motors hasn’t bought any freezers for vaccine storage but said it’s taking steps to make a vaccine available to its employees, according to The Detroit News.

At least three major drug companies have reported late-stage data for a potential COVID-19 vaccine as the world waits for scientific breakthroughs that will end a pandemic that has pummeled the world economy and led to 1.4 million deaths.

Having a plan to administer vaccines once they’re available makes “a lot of sense— to keep the assembly line and development processes rolling along,” Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research President Carlo Bailo told the Detroit Free Press.

“This is not the first time that the companies have done health checks or even offered health facilities on site. It used to be standard,” Bailo said.

To Read The Full Story

Are you already a subscriber?
Click to log in!