Worried About Your Fridge Full Of Vaccines? 

Ensure cold chain consistency by following a few simple, best refrigeration practices. 

  

Why worry to begin with? Temperatures too cold or too warm can cause a dose of vaccine to lose its "immunogenicity," or its ability to affect the human immune system. 

In 2022 in the UK, there was avoidable vaccine wastage totalling £2.6m! The largest avoidable cause of vaccine waste, totalling £896K, was that of fridge malfunctions, fridges being left open, or vaccines left out of fridge. The total vaccine wastage of both avoidable and unavoidable causes came to £5.5m…which is scandalous!

   

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Tips To Optimise Your Vaccine Refrigeration

 

Store Vaccines Between 2°C and 8°C 

Vaccines requiring refrigeration should be stored between 2°C and 8°C. The optimal temperature is 5°C, allowing a buffer on either side of the range. 


 

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Maximum Storage Capacity 75% Full 

The MHRA recommends that you stock the refrigerator no more than 75% capacity to achieve optimum performance. 



 

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Ensure Air Circulation Between Vaccines with a 1cm Gap 

Always leave a 1cm gap between your vaccines wherever possible to ensure the best air circulation. 


 

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Vaccines Should Not Touch Fridge Sides 

Never allow vaccines to come into contact with the back or sides of the unit, this can result in freezing, rendering the vaccines useless. Leave a 10cm gap around the fridge for airflow circulation. 


 

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Store A Data Logger In Your Fridge To Track Temperatures 24/7 

This relatively inexpensive device could quite literally save your Practice thousands! By recording temperature data at regular intervals it can decisively tell you how long or short a time a fridge has been outside the recommended storage temperature range, should you ever have to question the integrity of your fridge contents. 

 

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Set Your Controller To Read The Load Temperature 

A lot of the advanced pharmacy refrigerators now have a built-in secondary temperature probe to read load temperature These will be in a small bottle of fluid (to represent a vaccine vial) sitting at the back of the fridge. By reading this temperature on the fridge controller you have a reading reflective to that of your fridge contents.  

The air temperature by contrast, fluctuates very easily with the opening of the fridge door and is therefore not reflective of any liquid stored in the fridge as it would take longer to adjust to different temperatures. 

To view Lec Controller guides to switch to load temperature - click HERE

 

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For further reading on government guidance as to vaccine storage, click HERE