The vaccination campaign against Covid-19 began last Monday in Lyon. From this Monday, January 4, it will be extended to all the departments of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
What logistics for this anti-Covid-19 vaccination?
13 hospitals in the region have been identified to receive some of the vaccines. They received a freezer to store the first doses of the Pzifer-BoNTech vaccine at -80 °.
The Regional Health Agency, ARS, specifies that a pilot phase of this first stage of vaccination will take place until January 17th. It will only concern 31 nursing homes and 5 long-term care units (around 3 structures per department).
Before any injection, the consent of the patients or their families will be requested.
The vaccines will be delivered as soon as the establishments concerned have communicated the number of residents accepting the vaccination. Indeed, the vaccine does not keep for a long time after removing from the freezer (only 5 days).
The cold chain must not be broken
This is the specificity of this Pzifer-BoNTech vaccine : it must be kept at -80°. The Hospices Civils de Lyon, which began the vaccination campaign on December 28, thus have two super freezers, one of 729 liters and the other of 690 liters.
The vaccines are then sent to pharmacies in different hospitals in coolers between 2 and 8 °. They are then placed in cold rooms, which are at the same temperature.
Finally, it is up to the establishment’s pharmacy to deliver the vaccines to the care units, which are packaged in multiples of 5 doses. Once reconstituted, the vaccine can be stored for 6 hours between 2 and 25 ° C.
As a reminder, a second injection is necessary, 21 days after the first.
– .
