Cold Storage, Shipping, and Covid-19 Vaccines: Why it Matters
By: Moriah Rivera-Lawrence
Tags: Shipping, Industry, Vaccines, Covid 19, Current Events

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Cold Storage, Shipping, and Covid-19 Vaccines: Why it Matters

Temperature requirements are a big deal in the cold storage industry. If the temperature of a given shipment falls too far above or below the acceptable range, it can cause previously perfect goods to degrade in quality, possibly losing the ability to be sold along the way.

This is especially true of the new vaccines developed to fight Covid-19. These vaccines rely on cutting-edge techniques that preserve the delicate messenger RNA that makes the vaccine work. Even so, the vaccine still must be stored at sub-zero temperatures to prevent the shape of the sugars and molecules from being destroyed and becoming useless. Just a few minutes at room temperature, and the tiny vials thaw, leaving them fresh for only a few more days.

Vaccines made from mRNA can be made much faster than older vaccines could, explains Margaret Liu, a vaccine researcher who chairs the board of the International Society for Vaccines and specializes in genetic vaccines. The problem, says Liu, is that mRNA is “really easily destroyed, and that’s because there are many, many enzymes that will just break it apart.”- Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR, “Morning Edition”, November 17, 2020

How is this frosty cargo going to be transported and how does this problem highlight the vulnerability inherent to the system that delivers everything from your food to your vaccinations?

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Why does a temperature requirement affect distribution?

Because of the regulation surrounding refrigerated freight, cold storage is much more complex than its dry counterpart. Refrigerated warehousing tends to be more costly, so many manufacturers opt to outsource their cold storage to third-party logistics providers. — Winnesota Refrigerated Transportation, Referenced 12/20/20

The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine has a temperature requirement of minus 70 degrees Celcius, or according to NPR, colder than Antarctica. This temperature requirement is the coldest of all of the currently available Covid-19 vaccines.

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The cold storage and shipping infrastructure required to transport the Pfizer vaccine is not available to many people worldwide. As is shown in these infographics published by Explained Desk at The Indian Express, access to cold storage and shipping is vital to receiving something that can only be preserved by seriously icy temperatures.

India is not alone in figuring this issue out, the mere logistics of maintaining the dry ice needed to chill the vaccines once they enter an average freezer is enough to make any healthcare, supply chain, or warehouse team’s head spin.

In fact, in South Korea, some are having to turn over tuna to titrate valuable pallet spaces for the vaccine.

“As soon as we heard about the Pfizer vaccine, we started getting ready… other options wouldn’t work…for the tuna and other goods that are being kept here at -60 degrees, we’re going to have to ask their permission, compensate them for it and clear them out of here.”- Korea Superfreeze CEO Kim Jin-ha for The Straits Times on December 11, 2020

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Moderna’s vaccine, which was recently approved by the FDA, has a much less stringent temperature protocol. However, it still requires refrigeration and freezing. The Moderna shipping and long term storage requirements land at just -20 degrees Celcius and can be stored short-term for 30 days at a cozy 2 to 8 degrees Celcius.

This is fantastic and opens the door for many more people around the world to have access to an effective Covid-19 vaccine because it is cheaper and easier to ship regular frozen cargo versus a shipment that must remain at the temperature of Antarctica.

However, there are still many production hurdles for Moderna ahead that Pfizer doesn’t seem to have, and shipping either vaccine still requires expensive cooling equipment, even though the Pfizer version requires much more equipment and specialty packaging, including dry ice.

“…compared with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which was granted emergency use authorization last week, upstart Moderna doesn’t have a track record when it comes to mass production…Pfizer makes hundreds of medicines and vaccines and operates at least 40 manufacturing facilities registered with the FDA around the world. Despite being founded a decade ago, Moderna has never had a product win FDA approval. And it only has one factory registered with the FDA — and the registration occurred just this week.”- Sydney Lupkin, NPR “All Things Considered” December 17, 2020

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How an Icy Virus Vaccine Can Stress The Heart of Infrastructure

Even if your food once had legs, it certainly didn’t walk to the supermarket. We know this, yet are shocked each time when things look a bit bare instead during unusual circumstances.

Panic-buyers surging for toilet paper occasionally is not too unusual, but it does highlight a nuance to stocking product that people in shipping, handling, and storage already knew all too well; The pantry does not come pre-stocked.

If the truck that has “Item One” on it doesn’t show, “Item One” is not available for anyone until it arrives and no sooner, no matter how much you need the inventory. The same goes for anything, including when “Item One” turns out to be a very important vaccine shipped in dainty little vials and sub-zero temperature requirements.

When the shipping system is taxed, we expect to see delays. Getting your packages in the mail a few days late near Christmas is pretty standard.

However, imagine each package in the mail this year had ten extra steps for your mail delivery team to make before they could hand it off to you, including handling dry ice so cold it can burn your skin.

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Those delays might start to pile up.

Even storing the vaccine presents a challenge, as cold storage buildings may look like just any warehouse, but are actually designed specifically for the temperatures they contain and can be damaged if the systems are not maintained by a dedicated team of mechanics and engineers.

Designing a cold storage building envelope is a complex undertaking that requires special attention to detail and a collaborative design team experienced in cold storage best practices that can save a client time, money, energy and a lot of unnecessary headaches over the long run.- Jennifer Carr November 8, 2019

All this demand and a hefty list of requirements add up to a lot of stress on the supply chain, as storage and shipping facilities are stretched to the limit. Working overtime to deliver on maintaining food and supply lines, drumming up new ways to make specialty freezing floorspace available for vaccines, and maintaining Covid-19 guidelines all at the same time is a tall order for an already in-demand industry.

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What does this mean for the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine worldwide?

Covid-19 vaccines that require very specific temperatures have put cold-storage in the spotlight. But the sector has seen little vacancy for years, and industrial real estate experts don’t expect that to change — even after the pandemic is in the past.- Ashley Gurbal Kritzer , Tampa Bay Business Journal, December 11, 2020

The super-chilled environment needed for the vaccine is not available everywhere, and if it is, it’s probably being used for something by someone who can afford it.

In fact, most cold storage facilities can’t even get cold enough to store the vaccine without additional dry ice packaging. Much of the effort will be spent on shipping the vaccine in the special packaging to be distributed as quickly as possible.

“It is the talk of industry right now — moreso on the transportation side of the cold chain and less about storage, the existing food cold storage facilities probably won’t be able to service the Pfizer vaccine without tremendous modifications…that being said, many cold storage operators offer ancillary trucking and distribution services. These guys have the expertise to handle the distribution of incredibly temperature-sensitive materials. I think they’ll play a critical part in the rollout.”-Martin Khait, cofounder of Yukon Ventures for The Dallas Morning News with Steve Brown, November 11, 2020

How do we plan to ship something as fast as possible, kept colder than ice to each person worldwide, twice?

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The Answer: It’s Complicated and We’ve Cut in Line

Rich countries have cut in and started to buy up and contract out all the immunizations possible, closing out poorer countries from the chance to even begin ordering the vaccine until possibly years from today. This could make the spread of the vaccine turn out lopsided, ultimately dragging out the pandemic even longer by preventing herd immunity.

Several rich countries have signed a ‘frenzy of deals’ that could prevent many poor nations from getting access to immunisation until at least 2024. Also, many drug firms are potentially refusing to waive patents and other intellectual property rights in order to secure exclusive rights to any cure.- The Guardian, December 16, 2020

However, many dedicated people are still working around the clock to spread the vaccine to everyone as quickly as possible anyway, despite the challenges set in place and the risks involved in such a massive undertaking.

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The World Health Organization’s COVAX programme is the main global scheme to vaccinate people in poor and middle income countries around the world against the coronavirus. It aims to deliver at least 2 billion vaccine doses by the end of 2021 to cover 20% of the most vulnerable people in 91 poor and middle-income countries, mostly in Africa, Asia and Latin America.-The Economic Times, December 16, 2020

While vital, the World Health Organization’s COVAX program has a high chance of failure, which could leave many without a vaccine until 2024 or beyond. This encourages spread, mutation and new variants to pop up as we chase the virus around, rather than quashing it with an even spread of vaccine to reduce the number of available hosts worldwide.

Even once a country can get its hands on the vaccine, the sub-zero temperature requirements are very expensive to maintain, and many places just don’t have the facilities available. This, along with cost, will further restrict vaccine spread. In fact, the COVAX program is relying on the vaccines being cheaper than they currently are and they require a lot more in funding.

COVAX has so far reached non-binding supply agreements with AstraZeneca, Novavax and Sanofi for a total of 400 million doses, with options to order several hundred million additional shots, one of the Gavi documents says. But the three companies have all faced delays in their trials that could push back some possible regulatory approvals to the second half of 2021 or later. This could also increase COVAX’s financial needs. Its financial assumptions are based on an average cost of $5.20 per dose. -The Economic Times, December 16, 2020

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Looking Forward

While Covid-19 and its preventative vaccines are both stressing the supply chain in different ways, and herd immunity looks as though it will be hard-won, there is hope in having options.

COVAX has pre-purchased billions of doses from upcoming vaccines awaiting approval and further testing results that may even have different shipping and temperature requirements.

The new deals announced today include the signing of an advance purchase agreement with AstraZeneca for 170 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford candidate, and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Johnson & Johnson for 500 million doses of the Janssen candidate, which is currently being investigated as a single dose vaccine.. These deals are in addition to existing agreements COVAX has with the Serum Institute of India (SII) for 200 million doses — with options for up to 900 million doses more — of either the AstraZeneca/Oxford or Novavax candidates, as well as a statement of intent for 200 million doses of the Sanofi/GSK vaccine candidate.- World Health Organization,Geneva/Oslo, December 18, 2020

Vaccines produced by different vendors can add competition to the market, and will hopefully combat the harmful hogging of pandemic prevention.

So wear your mask, be grateful if you can get vaccinated, and make sure you don’t expect to see dry ice in stock any time soon as we prepare to watch the shipping and storage industry tackle its newest challenge.