Dry ice was poured into a box containing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as it was prepared to be shipped from Kalamazoo on Sunday. [From the New York Times/ Pool photo by Morry Gash]Here come the vaccines. UPS and FedEx started shipping the first of the initial 3 million doses of vaccine from the Pfizer facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to sites around the United States, today.
Worldwide, dry ice production and making ultra-cold freezers, are being ramped up. I read somewhere that airlines are now allowed 15,000 lbs of dry ice in their cargo, up from 3,000 lbs. The stuff sublimates, which means it evaporates into CO2 gas directly from its solid form. The crew have to keep an eye on the CO2 levels.
Ordinary people will have to be patient. I hope I can roll up my sleeve for my first shot (of two) by say, April.
How Pfizer will ship its vaccine and keep the temperature very low. Graphic by Washington Post.
