Several pallets of specialty infant formula has been flown in from Europe.
Indianapolis (CNN) - A shipment of 35 tons of baby formula arrived Sunday in Indianapolis on a US military aircraft from Germany to address a nationwide shortage.
The prescription formula will be distributed to areas around the country where there is the most acute need, a Biden administration official earlier told CNN. But the official said none of the first shipment would land on store shelves in the US, adding that Sunday's shipment is hypoallergenic and will be fed to babies intolerant of protein in cow milk.
The shipment included 132 pallets of formula, which arrived on one C-17 cargo plane. The formula originated from Zurich, Switzerland, and was trucked to Germany, where it was loaded on the C-17 and flown to the US.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who greeted the arrival of the delivery in Indianapolis, said Sunday's shipment -- the first of Operation Fly Formula -- would provide enough formula for 9,000 babies and 18,000 toddlers for one week.
"It is a large shipment of very specific and specialized formula. Formula for moms and dads who have children who have allergies where the regular formula just simply will not work," the secretary said at a news conference in Indianapolis shortly after the shipment landed.
The Biden administration official told CNN earlier that the product contained in the first shipment will be distributed to hospitals, doctors, home health care facilities and pharmacies in regions "where the needs are most acute."
The aircraft on Sunday transported pallets of Nestlé Health Science formula -- including Alfamino Infant and Alfamino Junior. At the site of the arrival in Indianapolis, a Nestlé spokesperson said, "Some cases are ready for distribution in the next couple of days. Others will be released into the supply chain after standard quality testing is completed."
The White House announced later Sunday that the second flight of Operation Fly Formula, which includes "114 pallets of Gerber Good Start® Extensive HA infant formula," was expected to "take place in the coming days."
The White House said the "total amount of formula arriving in the first round of Operation Fly Formula" is the equivalent of 1.5 million doses of eight-ounce bottles.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced Operation Fly Formula, which directs the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture to utilize the Defense Department's commercial planes to import formula from abroad.
Separately, the Biden administration on Sunday evening announced the first two Defense Production Act authorizations for infant formula amid the ongoing nationwide formula shortage. The two "priority orders," the administration said, are Reckitt and Abbott Nutrition, the baby formula manufacturer at the heart of a nationwide formula recall. The authorizations would allow those companies to urgently receive materials such as sugar, corn syrup, filters, which help make formula.
The shipment comes as the shortage of baby formula has caused major disruptions and frustration for some desperate American families. Already, some families have begun rationing their supply of formula, while others have turned to hospitals when they can't find the kind they need.
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