Delivering Coronavirus Vaccines: A Logistical Nightmare or Opportunity?

Delivering coronavirus vaccines at temperatures as low as -80C may seem like an insurmountable task, but experts say it's not impossible. Pfizer's new vaccine requires intense cooling for transport and storage, but the supply chain industry has the capacity to handle it. However, scaling up infrastructure and managing vast amounts of information on who needs a vaccine and when will be the main challenges. As billions of doses of vaccine are distributed worldwide, medical device manufacturers have been gearing up to meet the demand.

Key Takeaways:

• Pfizer's vaccine requires intense cooling for transport and storage, but the supply chain industry has the capacity to handle it.
• Scaling up infrastructure and managing vast amounts of information on who needs a vaccine and when will be the main challenges.
• Medical device manufacturers have been gearing up to meet the demand for billions of doses of vaccine worldwide.
• The supply chain for vaccines will need to be designed to manage temperatures as low as -80C, which is unprecedented for most foods and pharmaceuticals.
• Vaccines will need to be defrosted before injection, limiting their shelf life and requiring a sophisticated distribution network.
• A new kind of RNA vaccine, like Pfizer's, may be more challenging to manage, but second-generation vaccines could be more like the flu jab.
• The logistics of distributing the vaccine will be a massive organisational effort, requiring the establishment of specialist vaccination centres.
• Infrastructural logistics may pose less of a problem, but managing the information and distribution of the vaccine will be key.
• Companies have decades of experience researching, manufacturing, and delivering vaccines, but this may be the first time vaccines are transported and stored at such low temperatures.

Statistics:

• 40m: The number of vaccine doses destined for Britain, with billions expected worldwide.
• -80C: The temperature at which Pfizer's new Covid vaccine will require to be kept.
• -4C: Usual temperature that most foods are set up for, about what the flu jab is stored at, while the cold chain for frozen food is -25C.
• 5k: The number of vaccine doses that can be transported in a special GPS-tracked suitcase packed with dry ice.
• 10: The number of days that the coronavirus vaccine will be kept in specially designed storage.
• 202: The number of potential vaccines, with 47 in clinical trials, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• 30,000: Participants in AstraZeneca/Oxford University's phase III trial.
• 10: Days before year-end, when interim read-out on AstraZeneca/Oxford University's vaccine will be published, including safety data.
• 60,000: Participants in Janssen's phase III trial.
• 2020: The year in which Merck is expected to be in stage one clinical trials with a non-replicating viral vector vaccine.

Sources:

• Richard Wilding, professor of supply chain logistics at Cranfield School of Management
• Julie Simmonds, a pharma analyst at Panmure
• Cleo Kontoravdi, an associate professor of chemical engineering at Imperial College
• Alan Tovey
• "The chill chain for most foods is set up for minus 4C, about what the flu jab is stored at, while the cold chain for frozen products is typically minus 25C." - Richard Wilding
• "There's plenty of infrastructure but it would require scaling up for lower temperatures." - Richard Wilding
• "The second generation of vaccines could be a lot easier to manage, probably more like the flu jab." - Julie Simmonds
• "Infantry wins battles but logistics wins wars." - Julie Simmonds
• "The scientists are the soldiers and they are doing their bit, now it's up to the supply chain." - Julie Simmonds
• "We have treated this as a public health emergency, not a business opportunity." - AstraZeneca spokesman
• "Regular vaccination schedules aren't going to work; it's not a case of getting a patient in, taking a dose out of the fridge and worrying about opening the door." - Cleo Kontoravdi
• "The 40m doses of Pfizer's product headed for Britain - and billions worldwide - will not arrive in a sudden rush, meaning capacity should be sufficient." - Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
• "Companies have decades of experience researching, manufacturing and delivering vaccines." - Richard Torbett, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
• "They have been working for months to prepare." - Richard Torbett, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry