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The army receives the vaccine at the border, stores it in secret places and distributes it continuously to the cantons.
At first glance, they are simply unprinted pizza boxes, but the cartons have precious and delicate content. Each box contains 195 vials with five doses each of Pfizer and Biontech’s Covid vaccine. With the contents of one box, 975 people can be vaccinated once.
The army continuously receives deliveries at the national border. “Since then we are responsible until we have distributed them to the cantons,” Daniel Aeschbach, head of the army pharmacy, told the media on Monday.
On the way from the border to one of the army camps, the “pizza boxes” are wrapped in dry ice. So there is a constant temperature of minus 78 degrees Celsius, slightly more than the minimum minus 70 degrees required to store the vaccine.
For security reasons, the army does not reveal where the valuable boxes are temporarily stored in Switzerland; They say there are multiple locations. There, the vaccine is stored in deep freezers.
Daily deliveries
Cantons can place their orders every day until 3pm, although of course they must comply with the vaccine quotas set by the federal government. The army pharmacy delivers continuously, even during holidays and weekends.
Extensive safety precautions apply to storage and transportation, as emphasized by Daniel Aeschbach. On the one hand, the vaccine must be protected against theft and the warehouse must be protected from cybercriminals. On the other hand, staff must be well trained, because handling dry ice is not without risk.
The “pizza boxes” are repacked in dry ice for transport to the cantons. Containers the size of small refrigerators are loaded onto vehicles and brought to their destination.
Less time pressure for the cantons
The army pharmacy takes care of the vaccine until it is delivered to the cantons. Then it is your turn. How they store the vaccine is up to them. Some cantons have their own ultra-low temperature freezers in hospitals, others have agreements with logistics service providers.
You are not under as much time pressure as the military. Once the vaccine has thawed, it must be used within five days.
“Nice job”
It is obvious that the army pharmacy handles the logistics of the vaccine. Therefore, you comply with a legal obligation and already have the necessary infrastructure and know-how, as Daniel Aeschbach said.
By the way, the homework was nice. “We are happy to help improve the situation around Covid.”
