As the world waits for pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Moderna to deliver their Covid-19 vaccines to cities around the globe, the job of getting millions of doses to some of the most out of-the-way-places in the US presents its own set of unprecedented obstacles.
In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, one health care system has spent months preparing for the challenge.
Sanford Health System -- which has over 400 clinics and senior care locations, many in small towns and farming communities in the upper Midwest -- has prioritized making sure the vaccines that are delivered are kept safe until they are administered.
Jesse Breidenbach, Sanford Health's senior executive director of pharmacy, said that entails keeping the vaccine cold. Very cold.
"When the vaccine comes it'll be on dry ice," Breidenbach told CNN. "We'll put it into the minus-80 degrees (Celsius) freezer and then when we get orders from our clinics to distribute that vaccine, we'll pack it in coolers on ice and then monitor that temperature...until it's given to the patient."
Minus-80 degrees Celsius is about 112 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
Read the full story: