Crimped U.S. dry ice supply complicates rural U.S. vaccine release

Crimped U.S. dry ice supply complicates rural U.S. vaccine release As health officials from rural areas prepare to vaccinate people scattered over thousands of miles in what could be the most complex such campaign in U.S. history, they face the additional challenge of finding enough dry ice to keep a Pfizer vaccine that must be stored at... Stephanie Kelly, Lisa Baertlein, Carl O’Donnell U.S.

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - As health officials from rural areas prepare to vaccinate people scattered over thousands of miles in what could be the most complex such campaign in U.S. history, they face the additional challenge of finding enough dry ice to keep a Pfizer vaccine that must be stored at sub Arctic temperatures from spoiling.

The vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE could be authorized for emergency use as soon as this week and must be transported and stored at -70 degrees Celsius (minus 94°F), requiring specialized ultra-cold freezers or dry ice.

More than a dozen U.S. states, including Washington, New Mexico, Mississippi, Louisiana and Indiana, told Reuters they are rushing to secure dry ice to replenish suitcase-sized shipping containers from Pfizer. Once opened, if being used as temporary storage by a vaccination center, the vaccines can last a total of 30 days with re-icing every five days, Pfizer said.

The company said it believes there is sufficient dry ice supplies to serve the needs of all 50 states without serious constraints.

“This is the most challenging vaccination program ever attempted. (It) will be especially complicated in rural and remote communities,” said Dr. Kelly Moore, an advisor to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine program and associate director at the Immunization Action Coalition.

While the U.S. COVID-19 outbreak was originally centered around densely populated areas in the U.S. Northeast, the coronavirus is now rampaging across the country, hitting small towns and rural areas with limited resources particularly hard. Rural areas account for about 60 million people, less than one fifth of U.S. population. ...