Why should pay attention to cold chain transportation monitoring for vaccines?

Posted on 14 February, 2023 by BindaJD

1. Understanding Vaccines

The primary component of a vaccine is made from common microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria through appropriate processes, such as adding inactivated substances to kill them, a process called inactivation; perhaps it is made after it can no longer cause human illness, a process called attenuation; after the development of modern biotechnology, it can also be made by using the constituent substances of microorganisms extracted through chemical treatment, or perhaps expressed by genetic engineering.

After vaccination, human rabbit immune cells secrete antibodies, which bind with pathogens in the blood and are then secreted or perhaps processed into small molecules by other cells before being excreted. Since the antibodies bind to microorganisms early, they block the microorganisms from binding to the cells so that we will not be infected by microorganisms, and thus we will not get sick.

2. Effect of vaccine chain break on human body

As biological products, vaccines are sensitive to temperature, and either too high or too low temperature will affect them. In order to ensure the stability and antigenicity of vaccines, the cold chain is particularly important throughout the whole process, from the production of vaccines to vaccination, which has to go through several circulation, transportation and storage links.

Generally speaking, vaccines need to be stored below 8°C, and the specific requirements are subject to the instructions. In order to ensure low temperature, there are many professional equipments in vaccine delivery and storage, including low-temperature cold storage, ice row freezers, general cold storage, refrigerated trucks, refrigerators, refrigerated backpacks, etc.

If you leave the cold chain monitoring, the vaccine may be ineffective or inefficient, and the effect of vaccination will be greatly reduced. For example, the rabies vaccine is designed to save lives, but if you receive a reduced or ineffective rabies vaccine, it will increase the probability of rabies virus infection and will not achieve the life-saving effect, which is very serious.

For the whole population, the impact of an ineffective vaccine may not be significant in the short term, but the long-term potential danger is still huge: imagine if the majority of people are immunized against one or more diseases, it will greatly increase the risk of a large-scale outbreak or epidemic, which is the greater result of this malignant incident.

Thus, in order to ensure the stability and antigenicity of the vaccine, the cold chain throughout the whole process is extraordinarily important. Generally speaking, liquid vaccines need to be refrigerated from 2 to 8°C, while lyophilized vaccines need to be frozen at -20°C. In order to ensure low temperature, there are also many professional equipments in vaccine delivery and storage, including low-temperature cold storage, ice row quick freezer, general cold storage, refrigerated trucks, refrigerators, refrigerated backpacks, etc.

The safe transportation of vaccines has an extremely important role, so we remind those who are engaged in the delivery of vaccines that they must be delivered in accordance with the national guidelines, because a slight carelessness will have incalculable consequences.