UPS will make dry ice, offer freezers for vaccine distribution

United Parcel Service Inc. has set up its own dry ice production and will provide portable, super-cold freezers to its health care customers as the courier prepares for the massive roll out of vaccines against Covid-19.

UPS can make as much as 1,200 pounds (540 kilograms) of dry ice an hour near its Worldport air hub in Louisville, Kentucky, and can ship it the next day to U.S. and Canadian hospitals and clinics, according to a statement Tuesday. UPS will also source dry ice from third-party makers near air hubs in Dallas and Ontario, California.

In addition, UPS is offering to deliver and hook up the small freezers, made by partner Stirling Ultracold, for care providers that don’t have permanent facilities to keep vaccines from spoiling. The portable freezers can maintain temperatures as low as -80 degrees Celsius (-112 degrees Fahrenheit), UPS said.

The enhanced capabilities underscore the investments that parcel companies have been making in freezers and other cold-chain capabilities as they gear up to distribute vaccines that are nearing final regulatory approval.