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Tornado damaged Rocky Mount Pfizer plant restarts production

FILE - Debris is scattered around the Pfizer facility, July 19, 2023, in Rocky Mount, N.C., after damage from severe weather. The major Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina that makes critical supplies for U.S. hospitals has restarted production about 10 weeks after it was heavily damaged by a tornado, the company announced Monday, Sept. 25.
Travis Long/The News & Observer
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Via Associated Press
FILE - Debris is scattered around the Pfizer facility, July 19, 2023, in Rocky Mount, N.C., after damage from severe weather. The major Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina that makes critical supplies for U.S. hospitals has restarted production about 10 weeks after it was heavily damaged by a tornado, the company announced Monday, Sept. 25.

A major Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina that makes critical supplies for U.S. hospitals has restarted production about 10 weeks after it was heavily damaged by a tornado.

The company announced today that a majority of manufacturing lines at the Rocky Mount facility is back up and running. Full production across the facility's three manufacturing sites is expected by the end of the year.

Parts of the massive plant's roofs were ripped open and pallets of medicine tossed around when a tornado touched down July 19. Thirteen medicines were prioritized based on patient need and inventory levels.

Although manufacturing has resumed, the company said some medicines may not be back in full supply until next year.