Singapore’s Changi gets ready with tons of dry ice for vaccines

In balmy Singapore, a tiny island nation that sits almost directly on the equator, it’s usually flowers, meat and seafood that gets whipped away into SATS Ltd.’s cool rooms upon landing at Changi Airport. Now one of the world’s biggest ground handlers is gearing up for a more vital task. Like cargo operators everywhere, SATS is preparing for the arrival of its first shipment of vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech later this month. PM Lee Hsien Loong said this week that the country, which has a population of around 5.5m, should have enough vaccines for everyone by Q3. Multiple bets have been placed, with Moderna and Sinovac Biotech jabs lined up as other potential candidates. In anticipation, SATS has doubled production of dry ice needed to keep the Pfizer vaccine at the required storage temperature of minus 70 degrees Celsius. The company has also purchased two cool dollies, like giant freezers, to move the vaccines around on the ground. “SATS will play an essential role in taking the vaccines off the planes, storing them at a low temperature and then sending them to the forwarders who will then take them to market,” CEO Alex Hungate said. SATS will play an important role in getting the vaccines out to cities including Beijing, Jakarta, Mumbai, he said.<br/>