Mar 3, 2021 9:45am COVID-19 vaccine shipments are now underway. Here are the supply chains tasked with producing billions of doses. (nevodka/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images) As COVID-19 gained steam worldwide last spring, little was known about the disease and the havoc it would wreak on the world. A year later, vaccines offer hope in the fight against the virus, but it will be a monumental task to produce them and deliver them around the planet. That these vaccines were invented, put through clinical testing and either have been rolled out or are nearing distribution is an accomplishment in itself, but the work is really just starting. The companies leading the charge aim to produce billions of doses to vaccinate the world's population, and encouraging real-world data from the ongoing rollouts are showing why it's such an important effort.