Vaccines are absolutely crucial to public health, but in developing countries, where almost twenty percent of the world's population lives without electricity, doctors and clinics are faced with the problem of storing temperature-sensitive inoculations in less-than-optimal environments. A group of research engineers has created a new vaccine storage device that uses ice and vacuum insulation rather than electricity to preserve vaccines for over a month.
The new device, aptly dubbed the Vaccine Cooler Long term, requires absolutely no external power and uses state-of-the-art technology to make 30 liters (just under nine gallons) of ice last for 35 days. Vaccines are placed in a protective cocoon within the cooler, which is surrounded by water maintained at 4°C . The temperature-controlled ice bath keeps the vaccines within the recommended range of 2°C to 8°C, enabling life-saving vaccines to reach more than a billion people worldwide who have minimal access to modern medical facilities.
This system promises to increase the number of vaccines available to communities in the country, as well as the effectiveness of vaccines delivered in development. For many years, citizens of these countries have received vaccines that are often less effective due to temperature variations during transport or storage. Temperatures above 8°C degrade vaccines rapidly, so historically these vaccines distributed in developing countries have tended to err on the cold side, often unintentionally freezing the inoculations.Unfortunately, this practice effectively degraded many vaccines that were not intended to be frozen.With the new technology of long-term chiller vaccines, however, these unnecessary misunderstandings should become a thing of the past.
AFRIMESURE, distributes a variety of temperature loggers that validate vaccine storage conditions and maintain cold chain integrity throughout the transport process. Dedicated solutions provide the shipper with reliable and accurate records throughout the shipment, optimizing transport conditions and keeping vaccine user safety high.
