Vaccine Storage and Cold Chain Management System — IOT Solutions

6 min readFeb 8, 2021

Introduction

Hopefully, you have learnt a lot about vaccines from our last blog — vaccine management system. The COVID-19 vaccine is unlike any other vaccine. So, it needs unique vaccine storage facilities. Furthermore, the supply chain management, too, plays an important role. Plus, it has been named cold chain management. Since COVID-19 vaccines need preservation in subzero temperature. Here’s the current status of vaccine storage and cold supply management.

Current Status of Vaccine Storage and Shipment

CNBC reports say, the storage and shipment processes are difficult. The vaccines need cold storage with a temperature not above minus 94-degree Fahrenheit. For that authorities are trying to implement vaccine management systems at every health center.
Vaccines are stored in thermal shipper boxes with dry ice. These boxes act as mini-freezers for places who don’t have a cold storage facility.

But there remain some problems. Vaccines in those boxes can remain up to only 15 days. After the expiration of these days, the vaccine loses its potency. Furthermore, the boxes cannot be opened more than twice a day for more than a minute. Moreover, dry ice needs changing every 24 hours after reaching an immunization center. Dry ice also needs changing in an interval of every 5 days. After this the vaccines must go through refrigeration. In that way it can be used for another 5 days.

So, the vaccine can last for 20 days! It’s a mighty task one must say. Thereby, the WHO has decided to invest in effective vaccine storage and supply chain management systems!

Let’s take a deeper look into the challenges faced during storing and shipping these vaccines.

Challenges Faced During Vaccine Storage and Shipment

So, before we start discussing the challenges, let’s know a bit about the company who produced this vaccine. Pfizer, the American multinational pharmaceutical company, came up with a vaccine with 94.5% effectiveness. The said company collaborated with a German firm, BioNTech to work on this effective vaccine.

The vaccine uses synthetic mRNA to target the virus. And it slowly mounts the immune system. The immunization process includes two dosages. The first dosage is followed by the second dosage within 21 days. But this vaccine seems more delicate than the others, since:

It needs to be stored in subzero temperature
Vaccines would lose their potency since developing countries lack proper cold chain requirements

With pandemic on its second wave and more people being affected, WHO predicts 50% wastage of vaccines, which is a lot in these crucial times! Some reasons behind this wastage include:

Expiration dates
Multiple modes of shipment
Numerous hand-offs and much more

Yet, pharmaceutical giants and logistics plan to come up with some solution. Companies like Trane Technologies PLC, Carrier Global and FEDEX have come up with one solution. That is, heavy vehicles installed with super freezers which:

Maintains a temperature up to -70 degree Celsius and
Whose single containers can hold up to 208K doses

If this becomes a success then the cold storage market is going to reach $7 billion in no time. Yet these vehicles need constant monitoring. Since a single change in temperature can make vaccines lose their effectiveness. The same can happen during the shipment or after the vaccines reach its particular destination.

Thereby, proper vaccine storage and cold chain management is crucial.

IOT Solutions for Vaccine Storage and Cold Chain Supply

Francesca Marzullo, Pfizer global supply communications manager, chalks out a plan to provide effective cold chain management. She plans to implement some solutions which are only possible with IOT.

Having no idea about what IOT is? Then get to know about it from here!

IOT cold chain management solutions focus on tracking and monitoring vaccines as they go down the supply. Furthermore, it sends alerts if the temperature in the vehicle flatters. So, let’s take a look at how it works!

Cloud Platforms

Data plays an important role in cold chain management. Clients need to handle a lot of refrigerated trucks (reefers) in this process. Since those carry important vaccines supplies.

Data related to shipping delays and temperature control are crucial. Furthermore, they detect potential alerts as well.

So IOT cold chain management allows clients to track these data with much fuss. Every single data related to shipment gets stored in a cloud platform. These platforms come with special tracking tools. These tools gather, collect and store data from thermal sensors fixed in reefers.

GPS Modules and Thermal Sensors

Temperature and humidity vary from place to place. Thereby, it’s very important to track the location of reefers along with the temperature of a particular area.

IOT cold chain management solutions allow clients to fix GPS systems and thermal sensors in reefers. GPS systems track reefers’ location. While thermal sensors measure the temperature and humidity of the surrounding.

Real-Time Tracking Facilities

Clients are extremely cautious about the shipment’s location and its temperature. So, IOT cold chain management solutions have a solution for it.

Each device (sensor) is connected to the IOT platform. Thereby, each new data the sensors detect, whether it be temperature or the location, gets updated in real-time. Furthermore, the system keeps a track of these records to find any threat.

Alerts

If the system finds something fishy, it starts sending push notifications. These notifications get forwarded to the client’s web apps and other devices.

This includes flashing of warning messages on the interface. Moreover, clients and their associates can receive and acknowledge these alerts on their personal devices as well!

The IOT system can send alerts if:

There’s a change in a reefer’s ideal temperature. Drivers can receive alerts about it and take necessary actions. This can prevent shipment damage.
There’s a shipment delay. Dispatchers receiving alerts can help in redirecting the truck. Receivers can manage hand-off if they are notified about it as well.

Analytics and Visual Statistics

IOT uses data analytics when it comes to examining large amounts of data. This software helps in examining warehouses. It also queries large amounts of data in other departments as well. With data analytics clients can get rapid results from large datasets. Moreover, it also provides the advantage of visualizing vaccine storage and shipment statistics.

Benefits of IOT Cold Chain Management and Vaccine Storage Solutions

“So how do I benefit from these IOT solutions?” That’s a frequently asked question. So, we will come to it directly.

Cuts down costs by preventing loss
Real-time monitoring and management of cold chain supplies
Product distribution becomes safer and efficient
Maintains vaccine quality
Enhanced and faster delivery

Conclusion

Thereby, we can conclude that IOT solutions will take over this cold chain market. Since it provides valuable and real-time insight into the procedure. From detecting shipment status to making sure vaccines retain their quality, IOT does it all. Moreover, real-time updates and alerts help in better decision making and management. So, for proper vaccine storage and shipment tracking IOT is a must!

Looking for IOT solutions for managing your cold chains? Then take a look here!