How Pfizer plans to keep its vaccine in subarctic temperatures during transport

Pfizer is now the first company to apply emergency clearance of his coronavirus vaccine, triggering a sprint by Food and Drug Administration scientists to approve it.

About 25 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine could become available in December, 30 million in January and 35 million more in February and March, according to information presented to the National Academy of Medicine this week. Recipients will need two doses, three weeks apart.

CBS News got a glimpse of the logistical challenges of delivering Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to the public, including a required storage temperature that you would find in the coldest places on the planet.

Colder than Antarctica in winter, dry ice – made from carbon dioxide – is crucial for moving and storing these vaccines. Pfizer’s vaccine should be kept at 94 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Dry ice helps maintain subarctic temperature during transport.

Pfizer has developed a thermal charger, which they call a “cooler,” for travel. It’s about the size of a carry-on suitcase.

“There’s dry ice around it and then it actually contains a device with continuous GPS and a temperature monitor,” said Tanya Alcorn, vice president of global supply chain. Pfizer BioPharma.

Each “cooler” holds a minimum of around 1,000 doses of vaccine, posing a challenge to rural communities who have no place to store them.

Tim Size, executive director of the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, which represents 43 rural hospitals across the state, said, “I don’t think anyone wants to convey a message that rural Wisconsin or rural America is second. classroom.”

“If you can send 1,000, you can send 200,” he added. “It’s more expensive. It’s more cumbersome, but it allows rural people to be vaccinated at the same time as urban people are vaccinated.”

Pfizer told CBS News that they are working to ensure fair distribution, which is just one of many challenges. Frontline healthcare workers will be among the first to get the vaccine, but according to a recent Gallup poll, only 58% of Americans said they would get it when it became available to the general public.