Logistics giant UPS has increased its dry ice production capacity in its warehouses to be able to store and transport Covid-19 vaccines, and has developed freezers for small healthcare facilities.
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The company said it was now able to produce more than 500 kilograms of dry ice per hour in its US warehouses for the storage and transport of vaccines.
This ice will be shipped from the Worldport UPS site in Louisville, Kentucky (east central), to hospitals, clinics, and health centers in Canada and the United States.
UPS predicts dry ice shortage
"A sharp increase in demand is leading logistics companies to anticipate a shortage of dry ice," UPS details in a press release.
The vaccine developed by the American-German alliance Pfizer / BioNTech, and which could be authorized shortly after December 10, indeed needs to be stored at a temperature of -70 ° C.
Pfizer for its part created special containers to maintain the temperature at -70 ° C with dry ice for up to 15 days.
“Improving our dry ice production capabilities dramatically increases the agility and reliability of our supply chain when it comes to managing complex vaccines for our customers,” said Wes Wheeler, president of UPS Healthcare, cited in press release.
The warehouses "in Louisville, Dallas and Ontario (in Canada) will ensure that we have the capacity to produce dry ice to sufficiently package and restock shipments as needed to keep products viable and efficient", a- he added.