Vaccines are sensitive medical products that need to be preserved in a manner that they restore the potency at all times as some are sensitive to cold whereas some are to heat. Infact the ability to protect someone who is vaccinated can decrease if it is exposed to inappropriate temperature, and once the potency is lost it cannot be retrieved. Hence it is established that external factors, especially the temperature play a major role in ensuring the effectiveness of any vaccine.
The current time has highlighted the necessity for the country’s healthcare system to be in top priority. In an age when the world is so reliant on vaccines, it’s critical to adhere to every regimen vigilantly. Many common vaccine-preventable diseases can be traced and eradicated with proper storage and handling but still due to poor infrastructure to take care of all this, each year there is a huge financial losses owing to vaccine waste. Failure to properly store and manage vaccines can also impair vaccination potency, resulting in insufficient immune responses in patients and poor disease protection. Patients are at risk of losing their lives. We demystify the necessity for purpose-built vaccine storage solutions.
Why using domestic refrigerators for storing vaccines and injections can be dangerous
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has established vaccination storage standards and according to an excerpt from those standards, under no circumstances should any vaccination be stored in a bar-style, dormitory-style, or combined refrigerator and freezer unit.
They go on to say that these machines are designed for home use and have only one external door, as well as an evaporator plate or cooling coil, which is commonly found in the ice maker and freezer chamber. Even if utilized for brief storage, these devices represent a significant risk of freezing vaccines, leaving them useless and ineffective. They also caution that when vaccination is exposed to unfavorable conditions, its efficacy is reduced. A refrigerator is an important utility product in most families and does a reasonable job of preserving food at a safe temperature and keeping it fresh. However, there are a few qualities that distinguish a purpose-built medical refrigerator from a domestic refrigerator.
Domestic refrigerators have several drawbacks when it comes to vaccine storage, including:
- They are unable to maintain the required temperature range of 2-8°C for optimal vaccine storage. A domestic refrigerator is designed to maintain a temperature range of -15°C to 15°C. This can have major consequences in terms of vaccine storage, as it can get frozen and rendered ineffective if the temperature drops to 0°C. This could lead to patients receiving ineffective vaccines that will not protect them, or the medical community being compelled to discard expensive vaccines due to improper storage.
- According to research, domestic refrigerators have large temperature variations and heating cycles, which can further destroy vaccines.
- In theory, just one shelf of a residential refrigerator falls into the 2-8°C temperature range. As a result, it’s safe to conclude that a home refrigerator isn’t up to the task of storing vaccines.
- When it comes to keeping vaccinations, temperature stability is crucial. Domestic refrigerators, on the other hand, lack the ability to monitor and control temperature.
- Domestic refrigerators may appear to be a more cost-effective option however it isn’t from a long time perspective when it comes to storing vaccines.
Conclusion:
In the fight against vaccine-preventable diseases, proper vaccine storage and handling are crucial. Vaccines stored at temperatures outside of the authorised limits may lose efficacy, resulting in inadequate protection and the need for patients to be revaccinated, as well as thousands of dollars in vaccine waste.
Now that we have established why domestic refrigerators are not a good option for storing vaccines and injections, it is better to switch to medical refrigerators to maintain the effectiveness.
We at Elanpro meticulously design advanced medical refrigerators to meet the needs of the medical community. A purpose-built medical refrigerator is unquestionably necessary for medical demands that a domestic refrigerator cannot meet.
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