MECOTEC Group is expanding its range of deep cooling solutions with a stationary and a mobile solution for safe storage of COVID-19 vaccines at temperatures as low as -80°C / -112 °F degrees

• Fully stationary storage unit offers space for over two million vaccination doses
• Mobile solution with a total capacity for over 700,000 vaccination doses

Both, the approval procedures and the logistics for the vaccines are in full preparation phase so that vaccination can start immediately once the vaccine is ready. As of today, Pfizer and BioNTech vaccines must be transported and stored at temperatures down to -80°C / -112 °F to ensure that they are effective. A few weeks ago, MECOTEC GmbH announced that the company had developed a mobile hybrid container solution for transporting and cooling the COVID vaccines at temperatures as low as -80°C / -112 °F (press release November 9th, 2020). “This solution has met with great interest – especially abroad – where the first contracts have already been negotiated. The stationary container solution presented today is a further development of this already published hybrid solution. In the past few weeks we have had very intensive discussions with numerous logistics companies and have noticed a great demand for stationary deep-freeze storage solutions, which we are meeting with our new solutions,“ says Enrico Klauer, Managing Director of MECOTEC GmbH. “We are pleased that we can offer flexible solutions – based on our 20 years of experience in the field of industrial deep cooling – that cover the entire logistics chain, from deep cooling of the vaccine directly after its manufacturing, to storage at the distribution center.“  “With the active deep cold store solution that we have developed, over two million vaccination doses can be stored at constant temperatures down to -80°C / -112 °F. No dry ice or the addition of cold packs is required. A modular expansion of the storage capacity is also possible,” says Jan Hüneburg, Managing Director of the COOLANT industrial division in the MECOTEC Group. The stationary storage unit can be set up wherever the vaccine is to be stored for further distribution, for example in a trade fair hall. The refrigeration unit is ready for operation in a machine container for outdoor installation and is connected to the cold store via pipes (see Fig. 1). The deep cold store can also be set up outside a hall with a protective roof.

Figure 1 shows the interior division of a stationary deep cold store with a usable capacity of over 2 million vaccination doses, depending on the type of intermediate packaging. The power supply is via 400V. In the work area for the warehouse clerks, the temperature is -20°C/ -4°F, so that it is possible to work with the current protective regulations for protective clothing against the cold.

The vaccine is stored in hatch cabinets in packaging. This solution is particularly suitable for places where large quantities of vaccines need to be stored, such as at airports and large distribution centers.

For the mobile solution, the structure of which is shown in Figure 2, the same temperatures and boundary conditions apply as for the stationary solution. It can be set up on the basis of an ISO standard 10′ or 20′ container indoors or outdoors. With this solution, too, the cold store is supplied via a cooling system in the outdoor area. The usable capacity here is somewhat smaller than with the stationary storage unit and is over 700,000 vaccination doses per mobile unit.

„We are pleased that we can make a contribution to the fight against COVID-19 with our cooling solutions in cooperation with strong partners. Only by working together we all can achieve our goals much faster,“ Enrico Klauer sums up.