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HARD VACCINE: In this image, the Pfizer vaccine is delivered to hospitals in the UK. Photo: GARETH FULLER / AFP
Before the Pfizer vaccine in particular reaches Norway, it is important that municipalities have a clear plan that means that precious doses are not wasted.
The National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) elaborates this in a new guide for municipalities.
The NIPH is preparing to receive the first doses of the vaccine in January, as are the municipalities, which are in charge of carrying out the vaccination.
See VG special vaccine here
– Municipalities have a duty to offer a vaccine to all recommended residents, says Chief Physician Are Stuwitz Berg at FHI to VG.
It highlights that this is a role that municipalities are used to. But Pfizer’s candidate vaccine, which is at the forefront of the race to be approved in the EU and Norway, requires a different way of thinking than usual.
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The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine requires storage at minus 70 degrees. Therefore, there is a lot to do to avoid waste.
– This vaccine requires a different type of logistics and does not have the same flexibility that you are used to. Municipalities must have a very, very clear plan. They need to know who is coming and when, he says.
He says FHI is working to obtain as detailed information as possible about the Pfizer vaccine and the conditions surrounding it from municipalities.
Has five days on it
If Pfizer’s vaccine is approved and arrives in Norway, it will be stored at -75 degrees before being shipped to municipalities and health trusts, writes FHI. When thawed, it has a shelf life of five days.
This means you have about four days to use the doses, assuming one day is going to transport.
– That is the great challenge at the municipal level, says Berg.
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Then there should be detailed descriptions of who should get the vaccine, when, where to get vaccinated, and who should get vaccinated. This must be in place before the vaccine is delivered to the municipality, writes FHI in the guide.
The vaccine comes in five-dose vials that are added to the saline solution before use. So you have five hours to use the doses. Within 19 to 23 days after the first dose, a new dose should be given.
STORED AT LESS 70 DEGREES: Here, hospital staff in the UK store Pfizer vaccine in freezers. Photo: GARETH FULLER
It’s a very narrow dose range, writes FHI in the guide.
‘Therefore, a correspondingly detailed plan must also be developed to establish dose two within this time interval. A plan should be made for excess doses so that they are not wasted »
Distributed in cold rooms
Pfizer has developed a box that allows them to transport the vaccine and still keep it cold. They can deliver it to cold rooms in Norway, explains area manager Geir Bukholm at FHI. The vaccine can be stored in deep freezers for up to six months.
But another big challenge with the Pfizer vaccine is that it comes in packages of at least 975 doses. Some municipalities in Norway will need less and others more.
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– The reason why we then use the hospital pharmacies is that they have the so-called right to theft: this means that they can open the box legally and distribute in smaller boxes that they send to each municipality, explains Bukholm.
Bukholm emphasizes that they do not want to open boxes and benefits until they have a specific agreement with each municipality.
– Then they must have a clear plan on how they plan the vaccination. For example, if they say they can schedule a certain number of patients per week, they can. And then they can come back the following week if they wish in different sequences.
Other vaccines can go directly
It is likely that in Norway several different vaccines are used at the same time.
The other vaccines that are relevant to Norway do not have to go through the same complicated chain of distribution:
– No, in principle we expect a direct distribution to the municipalities for them, if there are cold-storage vaccines, says Bukholm.
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Modern’s candidate vaccine is right behind the Pfizer candidate in the race. There is also a so-called RNA vaccine that needs cold storage at minus 20 degrees. But it should be able to stay at refrigerator temperature for 30 days.
– If we do not receive more information from Moderna than what they have published now, we believe that a more ordinary solution is sufficient.
These four candidate vaccines are currently being considered for approval in the EU and Norway:
