People around the world are suddenly feeling hopeful as positive research findings and emergency government authorizations suggest that vaccines to end the COVID-19 pandemic are within reach. But massive challenges still lie ahead.
These include quickly ramping up enough production capacity to inoculate billions of people in the midst of a pandemic that has claimed more than 1.5 million lives in just a year. And in addition to the normal problems of transporting vaccines to the remotest corners of the world, the COVID-19 inoculations require special handling at super-cold temperatures.