Vaccines have Arrived, does this mean Life is Back to Normal?

Almost a year after the global outbreak of COVID-19, we finally have received exciting good news, and light at the end of the tunnel. The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines has been approved, which seems to indicate that normality is finally returning.

On November 9, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that the mRNA technology-based candidate COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2 jointly developed by the two parties has shown to be 90% of the protective efficacy in the interim effectiveness analysis of the phase Ⅲ clinical trial. 

Shortly afterwards, on November 16, Moderna announced the results of the company’s Phase III clinical trial of COVID-19 vaccine mRNA-1273. The data showed that the vaccine has a protective efficacy of 94.5%. Based on this result, Moderna immediately applied to the FDA for emergency authorization (EUA), Both Pfizer and Moderna have very high vaccine production expectations.

Pfizer said it will be able to produce up to 1.3 billion doses of vaccine in 2021, while Moderna said it will be able to produce 500 million to 1 billion doses of vaccine globally in 2021; however this remains to be seen.

As present, the UK has become the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for widespread use.

British regulator, the MHRA, says the jab, which offers up to 95% protection against COVID-19, is safe for rollout, hence the first round started on the 8th of this month. The first round will focus on immunizations for those who need it the most, such as elderly people in hospitals and care homes.

The UK has already ordered 40 million doses - enough to vaccinate 20 million people. Around 10 million doses should be available soon, with the first 800,000 which arrived in the UK in the 2nd week of December.

NHS Chief Executive, Sir Simon Stevens, said the health service was preparing for "the largest-scale vaccination campaign in our country's history". 

Around 50 hospitals are on standby and vaccination centers in venues such as conference centers are now set and ready to roll out the vaccine.

At present, all seems to be on track in the UK, and it was a good week and we were all fortunate to see that the first person to be given the injection successfully at 06:31 GMT on Tuesday the 8th. With 800,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine now delivered and will be given in the coming weeks.

Margaret Keenan, the first person to be vaccinated in the UK, said “it's the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the new year after being on my own for most of the year."

Challenges of Transporting and Management of such a Large Number of Doses in such a Short Period of Time.

Apart from mass production, clinical testing, vaccination site order maintenance, vaccination sequence arrangement and public health guarantees, there still exists many hidden labored tasks during the process, for example, how to transport and preserve such a large amount of vaccines from production to being inoculated successfully.

Both Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines have strict requirements on the cold chain. It’s been well reported, the Pfizer vaccine must be stored at around -70℃ and will be transported in special boxes. Once delivered, the vaccines can be kept for up to five days in a pharmacy or vaccine refrigerator.

Safeguarding the safety and validity of these vulnerable and valuable vaccines is the most important next step and safe and reliable transport and storage systems must not fall down at the last moment！

Here is how Haier Biomedical’s Vaccine Cold Chain Solutions are Working to Ensure the Implementation of the Mass Vaccination!

For the roll-out of a COVID-19 vaccination program in the UK, significant efforts are being made to ensure the infrastructure is in place regardless of the storage temperature requirements of the specific vaccine.

NHS Scotland has already implemented some additional vaccine freezer storage in preparation for the COVID-19 vaccination program. A number of Underbench ULT freezers (Haier Biomedical DW-86L100J) have been installed at key sites across Scotland as the organization gears up to roll out the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. Each freezer will accommodate in the region of 20,000 doses. At present, Scotland has received 65,500 doses of the newly approved Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in this week. 

Similar efforts are being made across the UK, as pharmacies make sure they have enough storage space at the relevant temperatures. 

Partnering with Haier Biomedical, a long-term and internationally respected provider of vaccine cold chain solutions, this partnership ensures that vaccines are in safe hands with all recipients assured of complete safety, security and reliability of the vaccines. The Haier Biomedical cold chain vaccine solution covers the whole process from transportation, preservation, management to inoculation. Superior advantages of product performance, production capacity, quality control, service experience, coordination capacity of local resources empower Haier Biomedical with great control, management and ability for the whole management flow.

It is worth mentioning that Haier Biomedical has scaled up its manufacturing levels by almost 100% in the last month, key products are rolling of the assembly line such as ULT freezers and vaccine refrigerators to meet the demands from the UK and the rest of the world.

How far are we away from normality? The answer is still unknown. Although the first batch of vaccines has been delivered and the roll has commenced with Mrs. Margaret Keenan, we’re still facing many challenges in the mass production capacity, effectiveness comparison, transportation accessibility, product prices and differences in medical channels. Therefore, protective measures such as social distancing are still of significance. However, we are all in this together with normality now insight, let’s stay the course and Make Life Better!

Contact the Haier Biomedical team for your complete cold chain needs, from vaccine transportation, preservation, management to inoculation, partnering with Haier Biomedical ensures you are Safeguarding the vaccines from manufacturer to the vaccinated by securing the safety and reliability of vaccines for millions of people.