As the fight continues against COVID-19, a vaccine is on the horizon, and Corning Glass is playing a role in making that happen.

“There’s no question that developing and distributing a vaccine is key to our ability to respond and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic," said Kirsten Gillibrand, (D) Senate.

What You Need To Know


  • Corning Inc receives $204 million from the federal government to make vials for COVID-19 vaccine

  • It is part of Operation Warp Speed Initiative, making as many as 350 million vials, using Valor Glass, a newer product for pharmaceuticals

  • The project creates 94 new jobs at the Big Flats facility

  • Senator Gillibrand says a vaccine could be ready as early as the end of this year

Gillibrand visited Corning's Big Flats facility on Friday to see progress on the glass production; to be filled with a vaccine she says could be developed as soon as the end of this year. 

It’s a vaccine which could lead to a full reopening of the state and country.

“Children can go back to school, parents can go back to work and more businesses will reopen," said Gillibrand. "Our economy will be able to recover."

The ramped-up production is a push by the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed initiative — made possible by $204 million in funding to Corning Glass, and 94 new jobs in Big Flats.

“And jobs are being created to directly meet the needs of this epidemic. Not only through glass technology but also through diagnostic and other technologies," said Gillibrand.

Corning says this is just another chapter in producing glass for medicine — citing their efforts during the Spanish flu, penicillin in World War II, and a polio vaccine in the 1950s. This time around, they're using a new type of glass.

“Valor Glass is the first glass designed specifically for pharmaceutical applications and it's the strongest, fastest to fill, highest quality glass packaging ever produced," said Ron Verkleeren, senior vice President and general manager, Life Sciences, Corning Inc.

Bottles for the vaccine are already being produced in the Southern Tier plant.