[Nhcoll-l] COVID vaccine storage in biological collections facilities

[Cassidy, Kelly Michela]

I ran across this article in the Washington Post about the Pfizer vaccine.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/11/17/covid-vaccines-what-you-need-to-know/?arc404=true

I’m not sure you can read it without a subscription. In summary, trays of vaccine vials will be shipped in dry ice containers outfitted with a GPS thermometer. Each undiluted vial of vaccine contains 5 doses. The undiluted vials can be stored at normal refrigeration for 5 days. When thawed and diluted into 5 doses, the vaccine is good for 6 hours.

There has been some talk on our campus about offering storage in the many ultracold freezers scattered around, but I wouldn’t think it would be necessary or desirable. At least for the near future, there will not be much need for long-term storage at ultralow temps. In most cases, I would think the manufacturer should only need to store it near the manufacturing facilities for the time it takes to box it up on dry ice and ship it out. The vaccine will be used up nearly as fast as it arrives at its destination. If the article is correct and the undiluted vials can last for 5 days at normal refrigeration, with the combination of dry ice shipping and normal refrigeration, you could get the vaccine virtually anywhere in the US without any need for an ultracold after it leaves the manufacturer.  Ecommerce has created an amazing infrastructure for fast shipping.

Shipping will be more of a problem in poorer countries, but I don’t think our university ultracolds will be much help there.

Dr. Kelly M. Cassidy, Curator, Conner Museum
School of Biological Sciences
Box 644236
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-4236
509-335-3515

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Bentley, Andrew Charles
Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 11:50 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] COVID vaccine storage in biological collections facilities

Hi all

I am interested in knowing if anyone has been contacted by federal, state or local authorities about the possibility of storing COVID vaccine in cryogenic facilities associated with biological collections.  It is apparent that cold storage capacity may become an issue for the Pfizer vaccine and maybe others and that the collections community may be in a position to assist in this regard for the good of the communities we reside in.  This may also be a great opportunity for us to also showcase the work that we do and the value of our collections to mitigating human health issues such as pandemics and the value of collections in general.

The Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN) along with AIBS and NSCA are potentially interested in being proactive about contacting these agencies to offer our support but it would be interesting to know in advance if contact has been made and by whom.

Thanks

Andy

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Andy Bentley
Ichthyology Collection Manager
University of Kansas
Biodiversity Institute
Dyche Hall
1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
USA

Tel: (785) 864-3863
Fax: (785) 864-5335
Email: abentley at ku.edu<mailto:abentley at ku.edu>
http://ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu/__;!!JmPEgBY0HMszNaDT!9hMvOg7uGeE3DGs-almUreKLUWXsa7I__CUI8n4h77x1dLkmIanrPJKOxcj8eJw$>

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