County spokesman James Stafford told the Telegram that Pfizer notified Bell County regarding the shipment delay.
âOur shipment has not left Kalamazoo, Michigan,â he said. âWe got a notification from Pfizer that they are not going to ship doses until they know that it can get here on timeâ
Stafford said shipments from Pfizer are packaged with dry ice, and need to arrive at its destination within 24 hours in order to maintain the vaccinesâ ultra-cold storage.
âDry ice is needed to maintain proper temperatures in the thermal shipping container,â according to information obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Six more Bell County residents are reported to have died from COVID-19, as the region’s active cases fell to 1,266 active cases — the fewest concurrent infections since early December.
The Bell County Public Health District announced 11 new COVID-19 related deaths on Monday, as cumulative cases near 20,000. Active cases dropped to 1,370 â 137 fewer than its last update on Friday.
On Thursday, Health District Director Amanda Robison-Chadwell said local health officials anticipated that COVID-19 related deaths in Bell County would rise.
âI expect to see more added for the next several days as we receive certificate updates from our period of high hospitalizations,â she said at the time.
The county death toll is now 276.
Bell County has now totaled 19,669 cases, and at least 18,299 people have recovered to date, according to the health district.
The Bell County Public Health District identified eight COVID-19 related deaths on Tuesday as active cases fell below 2,000 for the first time since Dec. 29.