Manufacturing, Safety and Quality Control of Vaccines

How it’s stored

When a vaccine is too hot or too cold, it becomes less effective or even inactive. If stored at the incorrect temperature, vaccines can be ruined or unsafe for use. Most vaccines require refrigerated storage at between 2 and 8 °C. Some vaccines require temperatures as cold as -20°C. Some of the newer vaccines need to be kept ultra cold at  -70°C.  For frozen vaccines some of them can be safely stored for a limited time between 2 and 8°C.

Regular refrigerators cannot maintain an even temperature consistently, so specialized medical refrigerators are required for these precious products. 

How it’s shipped

To maintain this cold chain, vaccines are shipped using specialized equipment that does not compromise the integrity of the product. Once shipments land in the destination country, refrigerated lorries transport the vaccines from the airport to the warehouse cold room.  From there, portable iceboxes are used to transport vaccines from the cold room to regional centres where they’re stored in refrigerators.

If vaccination takes place outside of the regional facility, the final step often requires portable iceboxes to transport the goods to local areas for vaccination campaigns.  New technologies have invented some portable devices that can keep vaccines at ther cold temperature for several days without needing electricity.

Quality control

Once vaccines start being administered, national authorities and WHO constantly monitor for – and establish the severity of – any possible adverse side effects and responses from people who have received the vaccine. The safety of the vaccine is paramount, with regular assessments and post-approval clinical studies to report on its safety and effectiveness.

Studies are often conducted to determine how long a given vaccine remains protective.

Read previous ‘Vaccines Explained’ topic: “How are vaccines developed?”