According to Freightwaves; Pfizer largest - ever vaccine distribution for Covid 19 will de managed on its own and they will ship COVID medicine directly from U.S. manufacturing facilities and warehouses to end users with the help of trusted transportation providers. Direct shipping enables Pfizer to have greater control and real-time insights into the status of the frozen vials.
The U.S. government has contracted with the New York-based pharmaceutical company to deliver 100 million initial doses once its vaccine is approved, with an option for an additional 500 million doses. Pfizer’s product must be maintained at minus 75 degrees Celsius (-109.3 degrees Fahrenheit) to maintain its effectiveness. Officials this week said they expect to provide safety data from final-stage clinical trials to the Food and Drug Administration by the third week of November and then apply for an emergency use authorization if everything checks out.
Uncertainty about the cold-chain capabilities of transportation providers and vaccine administration facilities led the drugmaker to co-create a special thermal cooler with real-time GPS and thermal monitoring that can keep its vaccine in a deep freeze for 10 days if left unopened. The shipping container, about the size of a small suitcase, uses dry ice to maintain recommended storage conditions. Once opened, vials can be stored at normal refrigerated temperatures for five days. Replenishing dry ice can extend the storage time after opening to 15 days.
Alcorn said Pfizer also developed a control tower that will get real-time alerts if the temperature deviates from the required range or a shipment doesn’t reach its destination within a prescribed time frame.
Control towers are centralized hubs with logistics specialists that capture data from all stages of the supply chain to improve processes and manage events.
Data loggers have provided GPS information for pharmaceutical shipments for several years, but Alcorn said having location data integrated with temperature readings from a refrigerated container is new for the industry.
LFS keeps you updated with the latest news, if you need additional information about our freight shipping solutions, contact us!
Follow us on Linkedin
By: LFS Marketing
November 16, 2020
