COVID-19 Vaccines: A Year Later

A look back on the milestones and moments as McKesson distributed ancillary supply kits and vaccines as directed by the U.S. government.

Since the first COVID-19 vaccine doses and ancillary supply kits needed to administer them shipped out of our McKesson distribution centers last December – and even in the months leading up to that moment – our teams have worked nonstop to do their part in helping vaccinate our country and the world to curb the pandemic.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of December 2021, we’ve delivered more than 246 million Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine doses throughout the U.S. and significantly more of the ancillary supply kits that also support the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

“As I reflect on the work that we've done and the work that we continue to do to support this pandemic response, perhaps the most incredible part of this program is that every dose that we distribute is a life that's potentially saved,” says Shawn Seamans, executive sponsor for McKesson’s COVID-19 Response. “It's the responsibility that we have – playing our part to save lives and to get our country back on track.”

More recently, we’ve begun shipping out boosters and the ancillary supply kits needed for children who are getting the vaccines. Additionally, we are continuing to support the U.S. government’s mission to provide vaccines to the world by preparing millions of doses for more than 30 countries and counting.

In addition to our distribution efforts, we’ve also helped to get shots in arms through Health Mart independent pharmacies, many of which operate in hard-to-reach rural communities. Since earlier this spring, 740 locations have been instrumental in reaching communities across 44 states through Health Mart’s Federal COVID-19 Vaccination Program. As of November, participating Health Mart pharmacies have administered more than 592,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses.

And while the pandemic continues, we’ve already taken in many lessons.

“The pandemic has taught us that when we share a mission, we can mobilize across departments, functions and business units with amazing speed and effectiveness,” says Stanton McComb, president of McKesson Medical-Surgical. “It is clear that it’s not just about what's happening in a community or in a state or even in a country. Pandemics clearly don’t recognize borders. Our response to the pandemic is also proving that private and public partnerships, between entities like McKesson and federal agencies like the Department of Health and Human Services work well. This gives me a lot of optimism for the future.”

As we reach this vaccine roll out milestone, here’s some of the images and stories from the past year of the people and initiatives that brought this moment in time to life.