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

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — The CEO of Pfizer announced Friday the company is planning to pay all employees during the closure of the Rocky Mount plant devastated by Wednesday’s EF-3 tornado.

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.

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.