With the COVID-19 outbreak officially declared a pandemic on the 11th March 2020, the virus has spread worldwide with some significant efforts in both slowing down COVID-19 and finding a viable vaccine.
The UK and US are taking a leading position in the vaccination process, with the UK’s COVID-19 Vaccination Statistics reporting the week ending 4th of April, the total number of vaccines amounted to 30,960,717.
Whilst in the US, the CDC has reported a total of 187 Million vaccines administered as of the 11th of April.
However, whilst western countries are having increasingly successful vaccination rates, the below table has been sourced by the BBC outlines where the vaccine is being given.
Whilst this illustrates the ongoing success of western countries’ vaccination programmes, it also visualises how the vaccine distribution has a long way to go on an international level.
This is already being stressed by countries globally with the ‘COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access’ (COVAX) initiative being formed by international bodies including UNICEF, Gavi and the World Health Organisation, among others, to provide international recourses to enable low and middle-income countries to access to COVID resources including testing and vaccines.
Sourced by the BBC, the above graphic suggests when countries will be fully vaccinated, with a high emphasis being placed in Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia not being vaccinated till late 2022 and in some circumstances in early 2023.
Why the delay?
There are two main factors in countries with a slow vaccination rollout. The first is their ability to purchase a sufficient number of vaccines to protect their population. The second is having an effective cold chain for distribution.
The work of COVAX is slowly going to be improving market access to vaccines; however, the quantity will be considerably less than in western countries.
The second significant factor will inevitably be creating a sufficient cold chain to retain vaccines’ viability and efficacy in the distribution process. We have written previously on the importance of keeping vaccines stored to the correct temperature, and each of the current COVID-19 vaccines has a stringent climate requirement that needs to be adhered to.
Ranging from an ultra-low -70°C to an ambient temperature of 8°C, countries need to facilitate the different vaccine requirements to distribute effectively. The chain needs to be comprehensive from the initial production to distribution to maintain vaccine effectiveness and efficacy.
CRS Vaccine Stores
The CRS Vaccine Stores are a range of specially designed cold storage for the effective handling of COVID-19 vaccines across the supply and distribution chain. Varying by the needs of the specific vaccine, the options range from ULT features to facilitating ambient temperatures for quick turn-around and distribution at vaccine distribution centres.
Available in a range of sizes, specifications and functions, many of the stores are adaptable and customisable to better suit the individual needs of the supply chain.
Get in touch today to discuss how the CRS Vaccine Stores can help facilitate the vaccine distribution process providing an efficient and reliable means for retaining the viability of your accessible vaccines.
