With COVID vaccines rolling out across the globe,
we thought you might like to know
exactly how a vaccine makes its way from the manufacturer
through distribution and finally into the hands
of professional healthcare workers,
pharmaceutical companies acquire the necessary raw materials
to create their vaccines through their own manufacturing
or manufacturing partners.
Through numerous calculated steps,
they create a formulated bulk vaccine,
which is then transported to a filling area
and dispersed into glass vials.
Once packaged, single-dose and multi-dose vaccines
are stored in a cold storage facility
as they await transport.
For vaccines that require refrigeration,
the temperature must be kept between 2 to 8 degrees Celsius
and must be closely monitored from the point of creation
all the way through delivery.
To protect the integrity of the vaccine, manufacturers
deploy cold-chain capabilities.
Cold-chain is how the temperature
of perishable products are managed in order
to maintain quality and safety from end to end
in the distribution process.
Cold-chain is used for many things,
from ice cream and other frozen foods,
to a variety of medicines and vaccines.
There are a few different ways of transporting the vaccines
while maintaining the proper temperature,
but the most common are refrigerated trucks
and thermal shippers, packaging that
can be loaded with dry ice to maintain recommended storage
temperatures for up to 10 days.
To ensure the integrity of the cold storage,
manufacturers use GPS- enabled thermal sensors
during the shipping process that track the location
and temperature of each vaccine shipment
across their pre-set routes.
Once the vaccines arrive at their destination,
there are three main ways they can be stored.
If they are to be used immediately,
the vaccines can be moved into a refrigeration
unit, which are commonly found in hospitals.
Here, they can be stored at the recommended
temperature for five days.
Alternatively, the thermal shippers
the vaccines arrive in may be used for temporary storage
up to 15 days, but the dry ice needs
to be replenished every five days.
After 15 days in the thermal shipper,
the vaccines may be moved into a refrigeration
unit for five more days for a total of 20 days of storage.
Lastly, upon arrival, vaccines can be moved into ultra-low
temperature freezers, which are commercially available
and can extend the shelf life of the vaccine
up to six months. Once the vaccine is thawed and stored
under the recommended temperature between 2
to 8 degrees Celsius,
it cannot be re-frozen and must be used within five days.
Now that you know how the supply chain for the COVID vaccine works,
we hope you have a better understanding
of how the vaccine makes its way to your town with quality
and care.