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Even if enough vaccines are secure, the logistical challenge is enormous: how to transport temperature-sensitive vaccines to places without reliable electricity or refrigeration.
The answer lies in the development of a “cold chain” – a network of vehicles, refrigerators and cold rooms – that can be used to transport the vaccine seamlessly from the manufacturer to the point of vaccination.
“We knew we were going to have to move billions of vaccines around the world, to rural communities, and that we would need a temperature-controlled environment,” he adds.
Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine should be stored at minus 75 degrees Celsius (minus 103 degrees Fahrenheit), while Moderna’s vaccine can be stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit).
Even so, existing cold chain networks will not suffice. Without new technology, up to 25% of vaccine stocks could be lost, says Peters.
Solar refrigeration
This is where solar power comes in, says Hugh Whalan, CEO of PEG Africa, a company that offers solar products for use by people in West Africa.
In preparation for a Covid-19 vaccination campaign, the company – with funding from Power Africa, a network of private and public groups set up by USAid – began providing solar power systems to health clinics outside network.
“Refrigerators need electricity to run reliably in order to store vaccines safely, otherwise they will go bad. So we provide the energy, ”he told CNN.
Previously, PEG Africa’s refrigeration efforts focused on establishing a cold chain for food products, helping products reach the market without deteriorating. He is currently testing solar freezers for use by fishermen in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal.
When the pilot ends in the middle of this year, Whalan hopes to use the same financing and distribution infrastructure to deploy solar-powered refrigerators and freezers to health clinics and vaccination points.
Of the two refrigerator suppliers PEG Africa works with, one has already received PQS (performance, quality and safety) certification from the World Health Organization, and the other is in the process of acquiring it.
Reach the last mile
Before a vaccine is given to someone, it usually has to travel from the manufacturer to an airport, a national vaccine store, a provincial vaccine store, a local health center, and finally to the hospital. final location where it is administered to a patient.
“The last mile is the biggest challenge, and that’s where there is the biggest gap,” says Peters.
Gricd, a small Nigerian startup, hopes to help fill this gap. It builds solar-powered coolers for transporting vaccines that can be stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit) and can be remotely controlled and monitored in real time.
The company claims to have worked with the Nigerian National Center for Disease Control and the Nigerian Institute for Medical Research during the pandemic, helping to collect and transport Covid-19 test samples from remote areas. She has also forged partnerships with private healthcare companies in South Africa, Ghana and Egypt, says Oghenetega Iortim, the company’s founder.
The size of the boxes varies from 15 to 100 liters, the smallest carrying around 200 doses of vaccine. The 15-liter box is specially designed for the “last mile” – the last leg of the journey.
“It could fit into any existing form of transportation, whether it be a boat, the back of a motorcycle, a bicycle or a person’s back,” Iortim explains.
Since they work with solar batteries – which maintain a stable internal temperature for up to a week – they are suitable for off-grid areas, he adds.
They also contain a device that monitors location, humidity and temperature, and transmits this data to the dispenser in real time.
“It alerts you if something is wrong – if the temperature suddenly drops or there is a power failure – and you can take proactive steps to make sure vaccines don’t lose their effectiveness,” Iortim says.
While Gricd products have yet to receive PQS certification from the WHO, Iortim says the coolers are in the process of acquiring certification. He adds that the product has been certified by the Nigeria Standards Organization.
Vaccinate on an unprecedented scale
But these have focused on certain geographic areas or specific parts of the population, Peters says.
“What we haven’t done before is try to vaccinate the whole world as quickly as possible,” he says.
He hopes cold chain innovations for Covid-19 could produce broader long-term benefits and apply to both diet and health.
“As we get to invest hundreds of millions of pounds in new equipment … are we designing a system to solve a problem today, or are we designing a system that has a problem? lasting legacy? ” he says.
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