Exclusive: Inside look at COVID-19 vaccine storage in metro Atlanta

METRO ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News got exclusive access to the people in charge of protecting vials of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Channel 2′s Mark Winne went inside the Strategic National Stockpile Security Operations Center.

It’s a monumental task carried out in our back yard.

We’re told the U.S. Marshals Service is the lead agency for security on the COVID-19 vaccine from the manufacturer to the distribution site and the hub of the agency’s national vaccine security operation is right here in metro Atlanta.

“Our responsibility is to take these larger quantities, if you will. Whether it’s the concentration or the many, many millions of vials on to FedEx and UPS in a safe and secure way,” said U.S. Marshals Service Chief Marty Hunt.

Hunt said Atlanta is playing a big role in the vaccine.

“It’s the key, and it’s the hub,” Hunt said.

U.S. Marshals Service Director Donald Washington said he’s marshaled dozens of deputy marshals from across the country to protect the COVID-19 vaccine.

“This vaccine -- from whatever manufacturer it comes -- is an important item for national security and for the handling of this pandemic. And so for those who might have a malevolent mindset, we want to make sure that large quantities of this vaccine are, in fact, transported as they should be for end-users,” Washington said.

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Washington said the Marshals service, which normally protects federal courthouses and judges, tracks down federal fugitives and much more, began protecting the COVID-19 vaccine in early November.

“This is a law enforcement agency. We’ve been here since 1789,” Washington said. “Deputy U.S. marshals get called on every day to do some phenomenal, tough, tough things and we’ll get it done correctly.”

Washington indicated metro Atlanta is a hub for the Marshals Service COVID-19 vaccine protection operations because the U.S. Marshals service has a relationship with the metro Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dating back to 2002.

The Marshals Service said it will protect vaccine and concentrate on transportation from some places and from other places where doses of the vaccine are bottled and boxed until they are turned over to UPS and FedEx. And at some point, states, hospitals and others have security responsibility.

“We also perform that mission in concert with many state, local and other federal agencies,” Washington said. “But actual mission of transporting these particular products, so far, we’ve used deputy U.S. marshals.”

Hunt said this Marshals Service unit generally flies below the radar, and that’s why folks didn’t know such a critical national operation is run right here in metro Atlanta.

Cox Media Group