With these boxes, the Pfizer vaccine can be shipped in Norway – VG

The time until all the plans must be in place is short: NIPH is preparing to receive the first doses of a vaccine in January, and it is they who have been in charge of making the national vaccine plan that the government adopts.

The government announced a press conference on vaccines on Friday, but so far they have not said how far Norway has gone in planning.

What is clear is that Norway must plan a vaccine that can be difficult to store and distribute to people:

The vaccine for Pfizer / BioNTech is the closest to approval in the EU and Norway. It requires two doses per person to be effective and must be stored at minus 70 degrees. According to BioNTech, it can survive temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees for up to five days. But there is a solution to the transportation problem:

Norway and Sweden have had a dialogue about a new type of freezer, which is a special solution for transporting Pfizer’s vaccine, Swedish vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström tells VG in Stockholm.

– Typically, companies deliver to a central warehouse on land. But when it comes to this vaccine, Pfizer has offered to deliver to many locations. In Sweden, they can deliver to more than 100 locations to simplify the process. In Norway, there is a dialogue between FHI and Pfizer on how this can be fixed, he says.

This is how boxes work

Bergström explains that the transport box for the Pfizer vaccine consists of a large box of dry ice, which has a minimum temperature of 70 degrees below zero.

– It has GPS tracking and a temperature control that sends signals to a control center so that we know where all the boxes are, which boxes have been opened and if they have maintained the temperature. So it’s pretty high-tech.

The specially developed boxes are expensive, but are included in the price of the vaccine, he says.

– Inside the boxes you have “pizza boxes” with bottles of vaccines. 975 doses is the smallest unit that can be administered. The shelf life when you have opened this pizza box is five days after it has been mixed with the saline solution.

Pfizer confirms to VG that these boxes can also be used to transport the vaccine across the country in Norway, but is referring to FHI when it comes to plans on how to do it.

It is likely that in Norway several different vaccines are used at the same time. Pfizer’s vaccine is close to being approved now, but Moderna’s candidate vaccine is just overdue. It should also be stored cold, but not as cold as the Pfizer vaccine. Two other candidates that do not require equally cold storage are also considered for approval in the EU and Norway.

Click on each vaccine candidate to read more about them:

In the first quarter of 2021, Bergström estimates that Norway will receive a total of approximately 2.5 million doses of vaccine.

Read all about vaccines and how they are approved in the special of VG vaccines.

I bought extra freezers

If the Pfizer vaccine is approved and reaches Norway, the solution will be similar to what we see in other countries, says chief physician Are Stuwitz Berg at FHI to VG.

– We also want a decentralized storage of vaccines here with the help of regional health authorities. We cannot say exactly where these cold rooms will be. The municipalities will have the vaccine transported to the end, and when it reaches the municipality there is no longer a need to store it in -70 freezers, but then the vaccine has a shelf life of only 5 days. Now we are working to inform the municipalities in detail about this, he says.

However, Norway must have a system to keep vaccines cold at specific destinations. The Norwegian Health Directorate helps with procuring freezers that can store vaccines, where you may need more than you have, Health Director Bjørn Guldvog tells VG.

– Several freezer boxes have been purchased and evaluations are also carried out in health trusts that can also be helpful in making physical capacity available, he says.

Buying freezers for storage goes beyond ordinary framework agreements, says Sykehusinnkjøp. At least ten of these cabinets have been purchased in the vaccine preparations:

At Helse Sør-Øst, five new storage freezers have been purchased, based on hospital purchases. In addition, the hospital pharmacy in central Norway has bought wood, they say. Helse Nord has ordered two freezers, in addition to the ones they already have, in case reception has to be established in some places due to the long distances in the region, they say.

FHI has provided advice on this

The Ministry of Health and Care Services gave FHI a December 1 deadline to be ready to facilitate vaccination in Norway. They have provided advice on everything from who should be prioritized for vaccination first, to distribution and implementation, and follow-up and monitoring, Chief Physician Are Stuwitz Berg said on FHI to VG last week.

– During December, the plan will now be implemented primarily so that we are as ready as we can to begin vaccination. Some things won’t be able to fit together until we know which vaccines will be approved and how much and when Norway will receive its first deliveries, he said.

The fact that a vaccine arriving in Norway can come in packages of at least 1000 doses, FHI has previously highlighted as a challenge. Some municipalities will need more and others less.

When asked what the government is waiting to present its vaccine plan, Health Minister Bent Høie responded on Wednesday:

– We’re really not expecting anything. We will soon have more information about the Norwegian vaccine strategy and the systems that surround it. Although the strategy has not been presented, a great deal of preparatory work has been done on it over a longer period of time. We must be well prepared when the vaccine arrives in Norway.

Read more about this: The expert group believes that the elderly and the sick should receive the corona vaccine first.