With Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine beginning distribution this week, Michigan’s second-largest airport, Gerald R. Ford International Airport, positions itself as a distribution gateway.

As the state’s closest airport to Pfizer’s Kalamazoo manufacturing location, the airport offers the infrastructure to support the transportation process, including a 10,000-foot runway, specialized cargo facility, ground support and the capacity to hold and distribute billions of doses of the vaccine — which need to be kept at -94 Fahrenheit.

“We’re here, we’re ready to help and we’re eager to get to work,” said Torrance Richardson, president and CEO, Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority. “We have invested in the infrastructure needed to accommodate the wide-body aircraft that will be used to transport the vaccine — and we have the team in place to handle the aggressive delivery schedule. Ford Airport is honored to be a key part of the distribution chain for Pfizer’s life-saving vaccine. We often say our Airport is the gateway to the world — this gives us the opportunity to underscore that in an exceptionally meaningful way.”