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Addendum (2021.3.8): The article was posted on February 2, 2021. Then, in late February, Pfizer released new data that it could be stored for 14 days after moving from ultra-low temperature freezing at -75 ° C to freezing in the temperature range of -15 to -25 ° C. Submitted to FDA) and approved. Similar storage is now possible in Japan, and the package insert has been revised. This will allow the standard medical freezer in the medical facility to handle it. In addition, efforts to ease temperature requirements for storage are ongoing, which is expected to make transportation management easier in the future.

Several types of new coronavirus vaccines have reached the final stage of development, and some of them are awaiting approval, but the challenge now is how to inoculate a small glass container containing the vaccine at a low temperature. Is it delivered to the medical institution or facility where the vaccine is implemented?

There are three types of vaccines that have been officially signed and will be supplied with vaccines: Pfizer in the US, Moderna in the US, and AstraZeneca in the UK. The storage temperature of the Pfizer vaccine, which seems to be the fastest to inoculate, is -75 ° C (± 15 ° C). The storage temperature of Moderna is -20 ° C (± 5 ° C), and each can be stored for 6 months.

Both are types of vaccines called mRNA, and because they are made of genes whose structure is fragile, it is said that if they are not kept at ultra-low temperatures at all times, their effects may be lost even if they are inoculated. AstraZeneca has a storage temperature of 2-8 ° C, and although refrigeration is essential, it does not need to be frozen.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is said to have secured 10,000 units each of a deep freezer at -75 ° C (ultra-low temperature freezer) and a deep freezer at -20 ° C in order to prepare the supplies and logistics necessary for vaccination. Deep freezer is supplied by 4 domestic manufacturers. It is a small type of 70 to 90 liters that can be easily installed, and the power supply is 100V. Performance is the same as each company. It is said that the deep freezer will be assigned to each municipality based on the population.

After being air-fed from overseas factories, Pfizer vaccines are stored in deep freezer in domestic warehouses, and about 1,000 inoculations are used as one unit at medical institutions and inoculation venues, using cold storage boxes and dry ice on trucks. Will be transported. The cold storage box can be stored for about 10 days after delivery by refilling dry ice, and the refrigerated storage place can be stored for about 5 days.

Moderna vaccines are stored by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited in referral containers (special containers used for transporting frozen and refrigerated cargo) at domestic reception bases and distribution warehouses for nationwide delivery, and are transported by truck to wholesale warehouses and branches nationwide. , Stored in a deep freezer. A deep freezer that can be mounted on a vehicle is used at medical institutions and inoculation venues, and 100 inoculations are delivered as one unit. Moderna products can be stored at normal freezer temperatures for about 10 days.

AstraZeneca vaccines are stored in the refrigerator like influenza vaccines and transported from domestic warehouses to wholesale warehouses and branches by cold storage trucks. We plan to deliver it to medical institutions and inoculation venues in a cold storage box.

As for the final delivery system, 40 pharmaceutical wholesalers designated by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will be in charge of delivering the new coronavirus vaccine to the inoculation facility. In Tokyo, Mediceo, Alfresa, Suzuken, and Toho Yakuhin's four major companies, in Osaka Prefecture, five companies that added KSK to these four major companies, and in Aichi Prefecture, five companies that added Nakakita Yakuhin to the four major companies. increase. Pfizer vaccines need to be controlled at -70 ° C, so they are delivered directly from pharmaceutical companies to medical institutions.

Since the storage temperature differs depending on the vaccine, there is concern that the storage work of the vaccine will be complicated at medical institutions.

About securing the vaccination system for the new coronavirus vaccine From the local government briefing session ➀
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare Health Bureau Health Division Immunization Office (December 18, 2020)