MIAMI – The tiny glass vaccine vials are delivered to Miami's largest hospital and immediately whisked to a secret location, where they are placed inside a padlocked freezer with a digital thermometer that reads minus 76 degrees Celsius (minus 105 F).
An armed guard watches outside the door. The pharmacy staff at Jackson Health System often gets short notice on how many doses are coming — sometimes as little as 24 hours.
As soon as the doses arrive, the pressure builds to administer them quickly, but the timing is complicated. The staff can thaw out only as much COVID-19 vaccine as the hospital can administer that same day.