Power outages, heat, vaccines are affected?

According to Ms. Ngo Thi Tuyet Suong, Quality Director of the VNVC Immunization System, vaccines are special biological products used on humans, which directly introduce antigens into the body to create active immunity. Most vaccines need to be stored and transported at a temperature of 2-8 degrees Celsius with a system of cold storage, refrigerators, and specialized refrigerated vehicles.

Some vaccines are sensitive to low temperatures: such as hepatitis B; diphtheria – pertussis – tetanus (DTP); tetanus – diphtheria (TD); tetanus, typhoid, can be damaged when frozen. Some other vaccines are sensitive to high temperatures such as oral polio (OPV); measles-rubella (MR); Measles – mumps – rubella (MMR) can be damaged by exposure to high heat or light.

Ms. Suong explained that high temperature can cause the main components of the vaccine to change or lose its properties. This can reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine or create potentially harmful by-products. Besides, high temperature can affect the stability of the vaccine, leading to a decrease in the quality and effectiveness of the vaccine. When the vaccine is damaged, the protective effect is reduced or lost, the person being injected may have an accident. Therefore, the preservation of vaccines at the appropriate temperature is an important condition to ensure the safety and effectiveness of vaccination.

Therefore, vaccination centers must have a backup plan to ensure the absolute quality of the vaccine, avoiding risks to the vaccinated person. At VNVC, preventive measures in vaccine preservation are strictly implemented at all stages.

Each cold storage of VNVC always has at least 2 indoor units and operates alternately. In terms of capacity, one indoor unit is enough for cold storage to operate at a temperature of 2-8 degrees Celsius, the arrangement of two indoor units is for backup when one of the two indoor units has a problem.

To avoid the risk of power outages affecting vaccine quality, vaccination centers always ensure that there are two power sources for the cold chain (including national grid power and generators). When there is a power failure in the grid, the generator will operate to ensure power supply for cold storage and refrigerators. VNVC is equipped with large capacity generators to ensure uninterrupted power supply for 72 hours. Every month, the generators will be tested with no load and with load, to ensure that when the grid power fails, the generators are ready in good working condition.

In order for vaccines to be stored between 2-8 degrees Celsius, VNVC has a strict and diverse monitoring and warning system with many warning channels. When the temperature is outside the threshold (below 3 degrees and above 7 degrees), the warning system will work, helping the monitoring team to detect early and take timely measures to ensure that the vaccine is always preserved properly. bridge. The system of temperature monitoring devices for storage, automatic temperature monitoring 24/24h on-site and online consists of 3 layers: on-site warning by buzzer and light signal, remote warning via SMS and alerts via email to responsible people such as storekeepers, warehouse managers, quality and maintenance managers, etc., if the temperature is at a dangerous threshold.

At VNVC, vaccines are preserved in a cold storage system that meets international standards Good Storage Practices (GSP) and a closed cold chain system. With a network of 4 warehouses and nearly 115 cold stores located in vaccination centers across the country, VNVC can store nearly 300 million doses of vaccine at the same time, including a storage system to minus 86 degrees.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Hanh, Logistic Director of VNVC, said the system is also ready to dispatch mobile generators to be present within an hour from the time of request. This is to ensure timely power supply in case both of the above mentioned power sources fail. In addition, VNVC is also preparing a plan to mobilize mobile cold storage from neighboring centers. All employees such as warehouse staff, maintenance, quality assurance, even warehouse guards, vaccine drivers, are periodically trained in cold storage troubleshooting.

“As a rule, if there is a power outage, the cold storage still ensures to preserve the vaccine at a temperature of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius within 60 minutes, while it only takes about 20 seconds for the generator to generate electricity. operated instead,” said Mr. Hanh.

The system of refrigerated vehicles and coolers, coolers, and ice gels are prepared to pack vaccines when needed. All coolers are fitted with a self-recorded thermometer, which is considered a "black box" of the vaccine, to access temperature data throughout the journey, monitoring the temperature in real time. The cooler temperature is continuously displayed in the cockpit. This is also the basis for VNVC to evaluate the quality of vaccines during transportation and warehousing.

Chile