In the last few weeks the world has been buoyed by the news that a Covid-19 vaccine is finally on the way. However, in order to deliver it effectively it’s vital to have a robust and efficient cold chain. According to a recent report by Savills and the Cold Chain Federation, cold storage in the UK accounts for just 12 per cent of total warehouse space. Is this enough?
Looking first at the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine, at present the UK’s cold chain infrastructure wouldn’t be able to support its distribution. Needing a temperature range of around -70°C or below, the vaccine requires dry ice, something that is not often found in warehouses. What’s more, it’s simply not realistic, or indeed common practice, to have racking, pallets, and fork-lift trucks, let alone humans, operating in these temperatures, especially given the average cold store operates at just -25°C to -20°C.
It’s also important to separate the much more established cold chain for the food industry from that of pharmaceuticals. The former is able to handle both volume and velocity of product on a global scale. Approximately 60 per cent of food in the UK touches the cold chain somewhere along the way. In contrast, pharmaceuticals sit within a much more tightly regulated framework, governed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Therefore, the challenge for vaccine immunisation on this scale is that it needs to replicate the volume and velocity of the food cold chain.
It’s unlikely that the first wave of vaccines will require significant storage, instead going from production straight to use. UPS has developed specially designed, temperature-controlled thermal shippers for the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine that can be used as temporary storage units for up to 15 days.
In addition, research is also underway to determine new manufacturing methods that don’t require such large facilities. This will mean smaller facilities can be built closer to where the vaccines might be needed.
Looking closer to home, we know that the Government has ordered 100 million Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines. This is likely to have the most immediate impact on the UK cold chain.
The temperature range required does align with existing cold storage infrastructure with a temperature range of +2°C to +8°C. Units currently tailored for food distribution can therefore accommodate this, but only if the MHRA regulations allow it: this will involve a real shift in regulatory controls. Unfortunately it’ not as simple as storing vaccines in the same aisle as frozen chips.
So what does this mean in the short term?
At present, the sheer speed of rollouts may well mean that the need for warehouse space is redundant. Instead it will be future phases that need a permanent cost-effective solution to vaccine storage, but it’s still too soon to know what this might look like, or what temperatures and capacities will be required. What we do know, however, is that demand for cold storage will increase.
While the cold chain has been receiving frequently more airtime, first with Brexit and now due to the pandemic, investment into this growth-sector is now more important than ever.