Shipment of the Pfizer vaccine has begun

Help is on the way!

Following FDA and CDC approvals, Pfizer began shipping out its COVID-19 vaccine.

Both UPS and FedEx are partners in the effort. Deliveries will be made to almost 150 sites today, more than 400 sites tomorrow, and more on Wednesday.

Each box has a GPS and thermal sensor to make sure it stays at the correct temperature, a whopping -94 degrees Fahrenheit, which requires a lot of dry ice.

According to Geoff Cooper, the CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, “It needs dry ice to be shipped and distributed across the country, and where does dry ice come from? It comes from the ethanol industry. We’ve got ethanol plants across the U.S. that are capturing CO2.”

He says that some ethanol plants are hanging on by a thread, even as output has ticked up again in recent weeks. That production increase comes as another wave of lockdowns goes into effect, essentially pulling the industry back to where it was in March and April.