Devendra
Mishra
Executive Director
BSMA
THE DEVIL IS INVISIBLE IN THE COLD CHAIN LINKS OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF COVID-19 VACCINES
Developing an effective vaccine is the first step in the war on the Coronavirus pandemic. Then comes the question of how to deliver hundreds of millions of doses that will be required to be kept at sub-zero temperatures. The single greatest challenge and uncertainty in the planning of the supply chain required for the Coronavirus vaccines is the temperature range at which it has to be handled, stored, distributed and delivered to the patient to be immunized. The devil lurks in the links of the supply chain from the vaccine manufacturer to the infusion into the blood stream of a person.
Considerable knowledge is being acquired during the clinical trials of the vaccine candidates. Of the three vaccines in Phase 3 trials, two — one made by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health, the other by Pfizer and BioNTech — need to be kept in a near constant deep freeze. Pfizer expects its vaccine to be stored in temperatures as low as
