With Health Canada expected to approve the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and plans to have doses shipped across Canada by next week, an expert on cold storage transportation fears distributing the vaccine could be a logistical nightmare.

CEO of ColdStar Solutions, Kelly Hawes, says with the Pfizer shot needing to be shipped at -70 C temperatures, regular refrigeration trucks with a minimum temperatures of -29 C simply won’t cut it.

“Obviously, the technology exists for it. I don’t know that there’s very many of them in service or in use in Canada right now. So, there again it’s going to be trying to quickly build and infrastructure that doesn’t exist right now, so that’s a big challenge,” he said on the NL Morning News.

Hawes is hopeful that other potential vaccines will require less extreme temperatures to store and ship.

“I hope that in the end, the solution is a vaccine that requires a temperature that’s more conducive to the normal system, -30 C or thereabouts, then it becomes a much easier project, for sure,” he added.

Both Moderna and AstraZeneca have announced their vaccines require a more feasible temperature for shipment.

As far as the Federal Government’s plans to use the Canadian Armed Forces for distribution goes, Hawes, who is a Canadian Military veteran, is okay with it to a point.

“I have great respect for the military. I struggle with the having the capabilities that the private sector has. As far as using aircraft or that sort of stuff, I think it makes total sense to use the military where ever possible,” he said.

“I think it’s going to take a combination. I don’t think the military has the infrastructure either but a partnership with the military and the civilian distribution systems, I think, is a smart idea. Why not?”