Utah is a link in the ‘cold chain’ for COVID-19 vaccine delivery to the West

SALT LAKE CITY – As state officials and health care providers prepare to quickly distribute Utah’s first batches of COVID-19 vaccine, Utah Inland Port Authority officials are monitoring the network of freight from northern Utah.

Indeed, the area is a crucial point of contact for what Port Authority Executive Director Jack Hedge has called the “cold chain” – a network of cold stores, storage facilities and trucks destined for. transport frozen products from point A to point B.

Today, Utah’s cold chain corridors primarily carry Pacific Northwest seafood, California produce, and Midwestern pharmaceuticals, Hedge said. But when the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines reaches greater quantities – depending on availability and nationwide deployment – this region of Utah’s logistics network will likely become more important than ever. And not just for Utah, but for other states in the Intermountain West.

“What people need to understand is that the same logistics network is going to be used for this COVID supply chain,” Hedge said. “So this area, this region, is very important when you start moving goods like that. This is very important every day, and it will be really important when the vaccine begins to flow.

The northern corners of Utah, reaching Weber and Davis counties and parts of Salt Lake County, have a “high concentration” of refrigerated goods, Hedge said, because that’s where the I-80s, I -84 and I-15 intersect.

“It’s one of the most important hubs for refrigerated freight” in the western United States, said Donald Ludlow, vice president of CPSC, a national analytical and policy consultancy of Transportation and Logistics, consultant for the Utah Inland Port Authority. “Utah’s highways and railways are critical to maintaining national flows for cold chain logistics.”

But shipping COVID-19 vaccines is not the same as shipping chicken or frozen vegetables. It is much more complicated.

The two COVID-19 vaccines closest to approval, manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna, both have specific requirements to safely and effectively store their vaccines before use. Moderna vaccine should be stored at -4 degrees Fahrenheit, closer to normal freezer temperature. But Pfizer’s vaccine must be stored at -94 degrees Fahrenheit – so cold that the vaccine will have to be shipped across the country in special sub-zero freezer boxes.

Pfizer’s vaccine is also expected to create a high demand for dry ice, which can be used by hospitals or clinics to keep the vaccine’s sub-zero temperatures in temporary storage boxes for up to 15 days before it is administered. If the vaccines are removed from the boxes and placed in a regular freezer, they should be used within five days.

These sensitive requirements put additional pressure on the country’s freight carriers – including airlines, storage facilities, and truck drivers – to ensure valuable cargo is delivered on time and undisturbed.

Rick Lakin, director of immunization at the Utah Department of Health, said hospitals rely on carriers the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will use to ship vaccine vials on time, correctly and according to their orders. .

“So I hope they all have their ducks in a row,” Lakin said. “I hope when we place an order it should be delivered in a few days.”

In Utah, the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines that will be reserved for frontline healthcare workers and long-term care facilities is expected to be delivered in mid-December, Lakin said. For the entire month of December, Lakin estimates that Utah will receive about 85,000 vaccines in total. The next large group to gain access will likely be “essential workers,” Lakin said, but state officials are still working to classify who these essential workers will be. It remains to be seen how many more will come in the first few months of 2021 or when more Utahns can gain access to the vaccine.

It will likely take time for the wide distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to increase – but Hedge said the hope was that Utah’s logistics system, especially the state’s share in the cold chain, would be prepare. He said the port authority is in talks with trucking companies and storage facilities to make sure this is the case.

“Are there things they need? Are there any gaps that they see? Can we do things to improve this flow of goods? Hedge said. “Do we need to cool our warehouses further? What’s the best way for us to get the equipment in here so we can do that? For trucking companies, for example, is there a lack of truck parking where they can plug in their refrigeration units without having to idle their trucks? “

These discussions are in their early stages and it is too early to say if any part of Utah’s cold chain could have weaknesses that could impact the vaccine. Ludlow stressed that the Utah and US cold chain “is already working well” – but the special requirements for COVID-19 vaccines will put it to the test.

Jason Fowler, President and COO of Freightlink – a Murray-based freight forwarding company that acts as a sort of “travel agent” for freight to coordinate contracts, as Fowler put it – said the COVID-19 pandemic has already put a unique strain on the logistics company.

“The freight industry as a whole is already crowded,” Fowler said, noting that e-commerce “has taken off like crazy” as more and more people have turned to buying products on the Internet. Internet. “So we already have a capacity shortage right now and it could get worse with vaccine rollout, and vaccines will need to be given priority.”