The ultra-refrigerators of pharmaceutical wholesalers in Austria are still empty – but not for long: The first tranche of the corona vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer will arrive in Austria on December 26th, said Andreas Windischbauer, Herba Chemosan boss and president, on Wednesday of the branch agency Phago. The first delivery with around 10,000 vaccination doses is about ten pizza boxes.
The delivery takes place by small truck from the factory in Belgium to Austria. A shipping company commissioned by Biontech / Pfizer is responsible for the transport. However, there are no special cooling requirements here, says Windischbauer. “There is absolutely nothing to be done because these vaccination doses come in special containers. These” thermal shipper “have dry ice inside and hold almost 5,000 vaccination doses. And in these special containers the goods can be stored at minus 70 degrees for a defined period of time,” explained Windischbauer.
In such a special container there are five trays “that look like five pizza boxes,” said Windischbauer. The first batch of around 10,000 cans is stored in an ultra-low temperature freezer from Herba-Chemosan in Vienna. The vaccine could be kept in it for another six months, says Windischbauer. It won’t stay in the refrigerator that long, because the vaccinations will start the next day, December 27th. “When it goes out of the refrigerator, the vaccine is thawed at two to eight degrees for three hours. From the time we take it out of the refrigerator, it can be kept for exactly 120 hours at two to eight degrees,” explained Windischbauer.
Second delivery by New Year’s Eve
The second tranche of Biontech / Pfizer’s Covid vaccine is expected by December 31. He doesn’t know the exact amount yet, said Windischbauer. In any case, he is assuming “several tens of thousands” of doses. Biontech announced on Tuesday that it would deliver a total of 12.5 million vaccine doses for the EU by the end of the year. The second tranche in Austria will be divided among all 17 locations of the pharmaceutical wholesalers, so that from this point on there is nationwide availability. The start of vaccination in the old people’s homes should be on January 12th.
Phago, as the industry representative for pharmaceutical wholesalers, was approached by the Ministry of Health at the beginning of November and so came to this logistics contract. But they had already prepared themselves beforehand and bought appropriate cooling devices. With a view to the nationwide supply it was actually clear that only the pharmaceutical wholesalers would be considered. In addition to Herba Chemosan, Jacoby GM, Kwizda, Phoenix and Richter Pharma also belong to the Phago.
The precise contractual agreements for the order “are still a little in flux,” said Windischbauer. “To be honest, it is irrelevant to us at the moment what that looks like. We are currently highly motivated – everyone involved – that we bring the vaccines to the patients as quickly as possible so that we have as little rejection as possible, because it is a chance for all of us to return to a normal life in the country. “
By the way, an ultra-low freezer costs around 10,000 euros. The Herba Chemosan model with a volume of 770 liters fits up to 170,000 vaccination doses. The wholesaler has three such devices at its main location in Vienna alone. So there is more than enough space, says Windischbauer. (apa)
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