Reference the article published in The Indian Express, it is interesting to note that the daily publication has highlighted the challenges that lie and how to address them. In the age of COVID-19, the history of cattle breeding in India provides insights about the challenges and possibilities involved with the distribution of COVID-19 vaccine. Like the well-established supply chain for artificial insemination, it remains to be seen whether the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain ultimately uses liquid nitrogen as a mode of cold storage.
In fact, how animal husbandry department engineers partnered with public health officials the world over at mid-20th century, during times of geopolitical strife, provides precisely the kind of unexpected object lessons. Use of liquid nitrogen effectively addressed many of these problems regarding the preservation of samples and also transportation over long distances and to the rural hinterland of vast India.
The storage containers used by the dairy supply chain can be used in shipping vaccines. In one pilot project conducted by the WHO, the “refrigerator-transporter” was filled with liquid nitrogen in Europe and then sent to Lagos, Nigeria, where it was transported to more remote rural areas where human blood samples were being collected before being shipped back to Europe. The whole process took two weeks and represented a dramatic strengthening of the cold chain for public health.
Recently in the news, it has been reported that the vaccines of some companies will need to be stored at atmosphere of (-) 20°C to (-) 70°C temperature. For that, policymakers and health professionals are on the way to make strategical cold chain management. As highlighted in the news article, we can take guidance from dairy industry & specifically from Artificial Insemination sector where bull semen is preserved & stored at cryogenic temperatures around (-) 196°C. This very-low temperature is maintained by using Liquid Nitrogen. Nitrogen gas is liquified at this extremely low temperature. Bull semen is stored in vials & straws and these vials and straws are put inside Liquid Nitrogen filled containers.
MVS, in partnership with European and American leading technology providers, manufactures compact Liquid Nitrogen production systems that will be required for the last mile delivery. While the larger requirement of Liquid Nitrogen for bulk movement from big cities like Delhi, Mumbai etc. will be met easily by the Industrial Liquid Nitrogen suppliers, the challenge will remain at the final distribution points in the villages. This will happen due to the liquid nitrogen boil-off that happens along the way over a few weeks. Hence, along the supply chain route, liquid nitrogen will need to be replenished at various points to avoid spoilage of the vaccine. MVS Liquid Nitrogen systems ranging from production capacities of 10 Liters/day to 480 Liters/day and more will easily be able to meet this replenishment requirement all over India.
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So, for this cold chain requirement to store & transport COVID-19 vaccine to each and every village and remote area of our vast country, Liquid Nitrogen Plants & Liquid Nitrogen containers, Cryocans will play a very vital role.
Learn more about our Liquid Nitrogen generators here.
Learn more about production of liquid nitrogen in this video.
