Countering shortages, Pfizer expects to cut COVID-19 vaccine production time by close to 50%

Pfizer expects to cut COVID-19 vaccine production time by close to 50% as production ramps up, efficiencies increase As the nation revs up its coronavirus vaccination programs, the increase could help relieve bottlenecks caused by vaccine shortages. Elizabeth Weise USA TODAY

Pfizer expects to nearly cut in half the amount of time it takes to produce a batch of COVID-19 vaccine from 110 days to an average of 60 as it makes the process more efficient and production is built out, the company told USA TODAY.

As the nation revs up its vaccination programs, the increase could help relieve bottlenecks caused by vaccine shortages.

"We call this 'Project Light Speed,' and it's called that for a reason," said Chaz Calitri, Pfizer's vice president for operations for sterile injectables, who runs the company's plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan. "Just in the last month we've doubled output." ...

Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine is made at three Pfizer plants: starting in Chesterfield, Missouri, moving to Andover, Massachusetts, and finishing in Kalamazoo, Michigan. As of Saturday, about 20.6 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine had been administered nationwide. ...

Pfizer based its production system on how the vaccine was developed in the laboratory, Calitri said. Normally engineers would spend years improving efficiencies and cost-effectiveness. That's not what happened with COVID-19.

"We just went right to commercial production," Calitri said. ...