Pfizer plans to pay all employees during Rocky Mount plant closure after EF3 tornado devastation

The company has set up assistance programs for wellness and disaster recovery.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla visited the plant Friday at 4285 N Wesleyan Blvd. in Rocky Mount.

"We are very inspired to see how this community is pulling together,” Bourla said. "I spoke with a lot of people, and they are pulling together to pick up the pieces and move forward with their lives after something very important happening here."

Bourla said he was thankful no one died.

The plant is one of Nash County's largest employers, employing more than 3,200 people.

"We will do all we can to support you in your time of need," Bourla said to the Pfizer employees.

NC tornado update: Pfizer CEO talks about recovery efforts, FDA says its working to prevent drug shortage

WRAL News asked Bourla what medicines were at the Rocky Mount facility and what kind of shortages the U.S. could expect for those kinds of drugs.

"We are assessing the situation," Bourla said. "I don't think that we know right now what type of shortages we may have.

"Right now, there are at least six weeks of inventory out there ... so, I don't think we'll see anything in the next six weeks."

Bourla said the facility makes anesthetics, invectives, vitamins, micronutrients and part of the emergency kits used in emergency rooms.

"Our number one priority is to ensure that we will minimize supply disruptions for these medicines because they are important and they save lives," Bourla said.

Bourla said the company is looking into what it can do for contractors. He said company and area leaders understand contractors are also impacted by the plant's closure.

The Pfizer Foundation will donate to the American Red Cross North Carolina Chapter and United Way Tar River Region to help rebuild the community.

Pfizer is working with leaders and regulatory bodies to restore the facility's operations quickly, as it produces critical sterile injectable medicines used in the U.S. healthcare system.

Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone told WRAL News that 50,000 pallets of medicine were destroyed when the tornado hit Pfizer. According to Pfizer's website, this facility produces nearly 25% of Pfizer's sterile injectables for U.S. hospitals.

The company said the primary damage was to the warehouse facility, while production areas seem to have been largely unaffected.

U.S. Rep. Don Davis, D-North Carolina, said Friday he first thought of the families of the Pfizer employees after the EF3 tornado.

"We are grateful there were no fatalities," Davis said.

Davis also thanked first responders for their cleanup efforts.

North Carolina Commerce Secretary Machelle Saunders also spoke at Friday's news conference.

"There is a proven track record at Pfizer and in North Carolina that we will get through this as well," Saunders said.

Saunders said she believed Pfizer's plant would reopen in the future.

"At the end of this will be another success story, not only for this community and for this state, but for our nation as we continue to supply products to patients," Saunders said.

EF3 tornado devastates Nash and Edgecombe Counties, recovery efforts continue

The plant made drugs for anesthesia, medicines that treat infections and drugs needed for surgeries. The latter are used in surgeries or intensive care units for patients who are placed on ventilators, said Mike Ganio, who studies drug shortages at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

It will likely lead to some long-term shortages while Pfizer shifts production to other locations or rebuilds, said Erin Fox, senior pharmacy director at University of Utah Health.

The specifics of which drugs might be involved in a shortage and how long that shortage will go on still aren't clear.

"We stand prepared and ready to assist in whatever recovery efforts are needed to ensure the plant is up and running as quickly as possible," said Rocky Mount City Manager Keith Rogers Jr.

Every dollar raised will go to help the people who have been affected by the tornado.