Dry Ice Becomes a Must for COVID Vaccine Distribution

As the world eagerly awaits the manufacture and distribution of the COVID vaccine, many are considering the many steps that will be needed to deliver these vital vials of medication to the hospitals and pharmacies where they’ll be injected. Moderna’s vaccine has to be shipped at -4˚F, then can be stored at that temperature for six months; but once thawed, it must be refrigerated between 36˚F-46˚F, and must be used within 30 days. Pfizer’s vaccine, on the other hand, must be kept at an exceedingly frigid -94˚F, and once transferred to a refrigerator, must be administered within five days.

MarketScale Radio hosts Daniel Litwin and Tyler Kern look into a CNBC report discussing the challenges around keeping COVID vaccines at their optimum temperatures to ensure their efficacy, including limited hospital resources and budgets that won’t allow for industrial freezing units, the complexities of using and storing dry ice, and whether the vaccine will be a boost to struggling cold chain businesses, funneling some much needed liquid cash into the economy.

• Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine needs to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures.
• Hospitals, already operating on tight budgets, opt for dry ice in bulk over industrial freezers.
• This has led to a boom in dry ice sales, showing the potential for vaccine distribution to boost unexpected sectors of the economy.