Bad news only helps keep getting worse. The United States averages about 1,000 new COVID-19 deaths each day, with nearly 200,000 lives lost, we have the highest death rate in the world. Until an effective vaccine arrives to save us, there may be disorders lurking in the shadows. MRNA, which is the backbone of new antiviral vaccines, requires a garage at extremely cold temperatures (-80 degrees Celsius) to remain effective. Most hospitals and medical offices do not have the ultra-cold freezers needed to purchase vials before vaccines are given.
Sending millions of doses of vaccines at below-zero temperatures (average temperature in Antarctica only drops to -50 degrees Celsius) will require specialized shipping cars, such as those shipping meat and ice, or garage on specially designed conveyors that require periodic replacement of nitrogen or dry snow to maintain temperatures. The costs can simply be astronomical, with the possibility of exceeding the source of ultra cold freezers below zero.
There are several ultrafreeze (UL) resources at -80 C, reserved for laboratory use, such as ThermoFisher Scientific, Nuaire, Arctiko-int, a Danish corporation and Avantor, among others. You don’t know what stock these gadgets have, they are and how temporarily they can be distributed.
The first doses of the vaccine are expected to be sent to hospitals, in all likelihood before the end of this year, for management to millions of frontline health workers. But many hospitals don’t have the right freezers or area to get enough materials to meet needs.
One is that drug manufacturer Pfizer has created its own shipping containers, which can buy between 1,000 and 5,000 doses for up to 10 days at -70 degrees C before requiring dry ice replenishment. Another is United Parcel Service, the shipping company that plans to win garage facilities, cell freeze farms, in Louisville, Kentucky, to hold up to 48,000 vials at -85 degrees C. Meanwhile, drug brands AstraZenica and Johnson
Another fear is the availability of millions of sterile bottles, rubber caps, packaging, alcohol wipes, gloves, syringes, rubber pistons and needles that will be needed. To vaccinate enough people to stop the spread of coronavirus in the United States, it will take about three hundred million doses, twice as much, if a momentary dose is needed, which turns out to be the case, and you can believe the overwhelming challenge you will face.
There are about forty-five corporations in the United States that manufacture needles and syringes. It is a $3 billion industry, with an average expansion of a lean 0. 2% over the past five years. That’s about to change. Becton Dickinson and Co. , the world’s largest manufacturer of needles and syringes, has production facilities in the United States, however, the amount of needles and syringes it retails for a COVID-19 vaccine is a well-kept secret.
In May, the U. S. Department of Defense will be able to find a problem. But it’s not the first time And the Department of Health and Human Services announced a $138 million contract with ApiJect Systems America for the Jumpstart Project to create a US-based chain of high-speed sources. But it’s not the first time For the distribution of one hundred million pre-filled syringes. across the United States until October. The company boosts its production capacity by stating that “a single BFS production line can reliably fill 15 million doses consistent with the month. “This would mean that with its exclusive production line, we would be able to obtain the mandatory vaccination doses until 2024. Little has been said about the allocation since the taxpayers’ cash was released, and everyone can guess when, how and what will put us in a position to be vaccinated.
ROBERT M. KERSHNER, PALM BEACH GARDENS
Editor’s Note: Kershner, an ophthalmologist and surgeon at Palm Beach Gardens, is a professor, president, and medical director of the Department of Ophthalmological Medical Technology at Palm Beach State College-Gardens Campus. Their prospects do not necessarily reflect pbSC’s.