Economics
Worst Spot for U.S. Brain Drain Gets Hope as Vaccine Hub
- Kalamazoo is Pfizer’s first distribution point for new vaccine
- Michigan city is using land banks to prepare for future growth
Photographer: Morry Gash/AFP/Getty Images
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The old factory town of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has become a center for Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing. That may help the area’s economy turn a corner after some tough years.
Ranked highest in this year’s Bloomberg Brain Drain Index of population loss of top talent, Kalamazoo has struggled like the rest of the U.S. with the job-crushing pandemic. But the city got some hope when Pfizer Inc.’s factory in adjacent Portage recently became a key distribution point for the vaccine. The drugmaker and German partner BioNTech SE plan to deliver 200 million doses to the U.S. by July.