KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Once news broke of a COVID-19 vaccine, the need for dry ice spiked.
"The dry ice business is interesting in a bunch of respects," nexAir Executive Vice President of Gases, Steve Atkins said.
NexAir is a dry ice producer in Tennessee.
"Because of COVID we've been even busier since march," Atkins said.
That is for a couple of reasons. For one, not as many people are going to the grocery store.
"Rather than go buy things at a store they want things shipped to them," he said.
More food deliveries mean a greater need for dry ice but that's only half of it.
"Now with the vaccine needing to be shipped and stored ... we are seeing a lot of requests," Atkins said. "The Pfizer vaccine has to be stored at a very cold temperature and it just happens to be close to right at dry ice temperature."
So with more food deliveries and the need for a new vaccine, Atkins said it is like they are experiencing their busiest time of the year all year long.
"Our plants are at capacity right now ... we are trying to figure out ways to get more CO2 so we can make more dry ice," he said.
To help they've set up a task force that meets once a week.
"We're fielding calls from our customers and trying to understand the need so we can meet the need," Atkins added.
Though much of what comes next is uncertain, the company says it is learning what it can to be able to help the public when the time comes.
"It's really added an extra layer of meaning to our jobs and what we do every day," Atkins said. "We're proud to be able to do our part to help push back this pandemic."