With the race between pharmaceutical manufacturers to obtain an anti-Corona vaccine that is easy to transport and store, the importance of “dry ice” or solid form of carbon dioxide, to provide the necessary cold for its preservation, has emerged, amid questions about the availability of dry ice in the country.
In order to confirm its obtainability, the professor in the Department of Chemistry at the College of Science at Kuwait University, Dr. Saad Makhseed told Al-Qabas that “There are companies in Kuwait that manufacture it and can provide the quantities required to save the vaccine,” especially since “The device for manufacturing this type of ice is simple and cheap, and the Ministry of Health can buy it”, and “The price per kilogram of Dry ice is KD 1.5”
Pfizer-Biontech vaccine, which is more than 90% effective against the deadly coronavirus virus, the global uproar caused by this “historic breakthrough”. Less than 10 days after Pfizer announced its vaccine, Moderna announced a competing vaccine that provides 94.5% protection and can be stored for 30 days at a temperature between 2 and 8 Celsius and can be kept for 6 months at minus 20 degrees Celsius.
The “Pfizer / Biontech” vaccine, can be kept for 6 months at a temperature between minus 70 and 80 degrees, or for 5 days at between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius.
Storage condition is the first challenge for safe administration of the vaccine, as it appears the required storage temperature is extremely low. The two developers of the “Pfizer” vaccine revealed the need for the vaccine to be stored at a temperature of no less than 70 degrees below zero means that it must be injected into the recipients within 5 days of removing it from its container. This means that most countries will need production, storage, and transportation networks of a unique nature, which is a big challenge for developed and developing countries alike.
The transportation of the vaccine under these circumstances between distribution centers requires coolers of unprecedented specifications, including the use of dry ice to transport the frozen vaccine bottles at the necessary temperatures.
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