Even if enough vaccines are secured, there is a huge logistical challenge: how to transport temperature-sensitive vaccines to places without reliable electricity and cooling.
The answer lies in developing a “cold chain” – a network of vehicles, refrigerators and cold stores – that can be used to seamlessly transport the vaccine from the manufacturer to the immunization point.
“We knew we would have to move billions of vaccines around the world, all the way to rural communities, and that we would need a temperature-controlled environment,” he adds.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine should be stored at minus 75 degrees Celsius (minus 103 degrees Fahrenheit,) while Moderna’s can be kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit).
However, existing cold chain networks will not be sufficient. Without new technology, up to 25% of vaccine supplies could be lost, Peters says.
Solar cooling
This is where solar comes in handy, said Hugh Whalan, CEO of PEG Africa, a company that offers pay-as-you-go solar products to people in West Africa.
In preparation for a vaccination program for Covid-19, the company – with funding from Power Africa, a network of private and public groups founded by USAid – has begun supplying solar power systems to unaffiliated health clinics.
“Refrigerators need power to operate reliably to safely store vaccines or they will spoil. So we provide the power,” he told CNN.
Previously, PEG Africa’s refrigeration efforts focused on establishing a cold chain for food products, allowing products to be marketed without spoiling. It is currently testing pay-as-you-go solar freezers among fisherwomen in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal.
When the pilot ends in mid-year, Whalan hopes to use the same financing and distribution infrastructure to roll out solar-powered refrigerators and freezers to health clinics and immunization points.
Of the two refrigerator suppliers PEG Africa works with, one has already received a performance, quality and safety (PQS) certification from the World Health Organization, and the other is in the process of acquiring it.
Getting to the last mile
Before a vaccine is administered to someone, it usually has to go from the manufacturer to an airport, to a national vaccine store, to a provincial vaccine store, to a local health center, and finally to the final location where it will be given to a patient.
“The last mile is the biggest challenge, and that’s where the biggest gap is,” said Peters.
Gricd, a small Nigerian startup, hopes to help fill this gap. It builds solar-powered coolers to transport vaccines that can be kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit) and can be remotely controlled and monitored in real time.
The company says it partnered with the National Center for Disease Control of Nigeria and the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research during the pandemic, and helped collect and transport Covid-19 test samples from remote areas. It has also partnered with private healthcare companies in South Africa, Ghana and Egypt, said Oghenetega Iortim, the company’s founder.
The boxes vary in size from 15 to 100 liters, the smallest of which can carry about 200 doses of vaccine. The 15 liter bucket is specially designed for the “last mile” – the last leg of the journey.
“It could fit into any existing transport medium, be it a boat, the back of a motorcycle, a bicycle, or the back of a person,” says Iortim.
Because they run on solar-powered batteries – which maintain a stable internal temperature for up to a week – they are suitable for areas that are off the grid, he adds.
They also include a device that monitors location, humidity and temperature and sends this data to the distributor in real time.
“It alerts you if something goes wrong – if the temperature drops suddenly or if there is a blackout – and you can take proactive measures to make sure the vaccines don’t lose their potency,” says Iortim.
While Gricd products have not yet received PQS certification from the WHO, Iortim says the coolers are in the process of obtaining certification. He adds that the product is certified by the Standards Organization of Nigeria.
Vaccination on an unprecedented scale
But these have targeted certain geographic areas or specific sections of the population, Peters says.
“What we haven’t done before is try to vaccinate the whole world as soon as possible,” he says.
He hopes that cold chain innovations for Covid-19 can deliver wider long-term benefits, and can be applied to both food and health.
“As we invest hundreds of millions of pounds in new equipment … are we designing a system today to solve a problem, or are we designing a system with a lasting legacy?” he says.