Dry ice to play key role as virus vaccines arrive in the Borderland

EL PASO, Texas -- The coronavirus vaccine is making its way to El Paso.

Once the shots get here, they need to be stored in in a very cold environment that cannot be achieved through a normal freezer.

Vaccines can be stored in specialized freezer or through using dry ice.

Ivan Vicencio, sales director at Vicencio's Ice, said the vaccine needs to be stored at about negative 90 degrees. Dry ice can reach a temperature of negative 109 degrees.

Vicencio will be distributing dry ice to vaccine providers who don't have the special freezer.

"We are going to be supporting providers, hospitals clinics, just anybody that is going to be giving out that vaccine. We are there to make sure those vaccines don't go stale," Vicencio said.

Vicencio said each provider will need about 50 pounds of dry ice per vaccine container.

According to the city, there have been about 161 places in El Paso that have been approved by the state to become a vaccine provider. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso is one of them.

However, instead of using dry ice, they have the specialized freezer needed to store the vaccine and are waiting on more to be delivered.

Dr. Richard Lange, president of Texas Tech in El Paso, said each freezer can hold up to 110,000 individual doses of the vaccine.

Once the vaccine arrives, Texas Tech will be distributing the vaccine to their students, teachers and residents.

"When we get this vaccine, we are going to be ready to administer it the next day. I meant things are moving that quickly," Lange said.