[ad_1]
The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine must be kept at extremely cold temperatures on its journey from the production line to the patient’s arm.
- South African helium producer Renergen says it has solved a major logistical headache with Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine: keeping it cold.
- Boiling released helium slowly in a shipping container can keep vaccine vials at -70 degrees Celsius for a month without using electricity, he says.
- The Aluminum Cryo-Vacc is light enough to transport, stacks in multiples of 100 vaccine doses, and you should add approximately R1 per dose to the price of one injection.
- For more stories, visit the Business Insider South Africa home page.
A South African company says it has the solution to a major headache surrounding Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine: keep it cold.
Pfizer’s injection must be kept ultra-cold, which means airlines have had to obtain special permission to use large quantities of dry ice, while local companies with refrigerated transport capacity are trying to figure out how to bring cold payloads to rural areas. .
But using the helium it produces in the Free State in a newly patented container can keep vaccine vials at -70 degrees Celsius for up to 30 days without the use of electricity, says publicly traded company Renergen, “regardless of the environmental conditions”.
See also | The Free State could soon be producing 5% of the world’s helium, and that could change a lot more than just the party balloon market.
The Renergen Cryo-Vacc can transport 100 doses of vaccine in a stackable format, so that it can be used in traditional logistics chains, the company says.
Each aluminum container weighs less than 20 kilograms, making it fairly easy to lift, and the company says the cost per vial should be equivalent to just over R1 per dose of vaccine.
Instead of using dry ice, or much heavier liquid nitrogen, the Renergen Cryo-Vacc contains a deposit of liquid helium, which forms when helium gas is reduced to -269 ° C. That is boiled and slowly released to maintain a constant temperature.
The same device can also be used with liquid nitrogen, the company says, but that reduces the time available for transport or increases the weight: vaccines must be delivered within four days, or an additional 15 kg must be added to each (normally container less than 20 kilograms).
Renergen is now soliciting partners “with the resources to implement large-scale manufacturing” from Cryo-Vacc, and global logistics companies to bring them.
You can watch Renergen’s short video on Cryo-Vacc here:
(Compiled by Phillip de Wet)
Receive a daily news update on your cell phone. Or receive the best of our site by email
Go to the Business Insider home page for more stories.
[ad_2]
