As Japan prepares to begin COVID-19 vaccinations this week, dry ice manufacturers are racing to ensure they can meet the expected surge in demand driven by a need to store the Pfizer Inc. vaccine at an ultracold temperature.
But preparations, critical for a smooth vaccine rollout, are facing challenges, with dry ice-makers possibly unable to ramp up production capacity quickly enough partly due to the difficulty of acquiring enough liquid carbon dioxide to create the refrigerant.
On Sunday, Japan approved the vaccine jointly developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech SE which must be stored at a temperature of about minus 75 degrees Celsius. Dry ice will be used when there is a shortage of ultracold freezers.