Health & Wellness

The cold chain: How vaccines go from the manufacturer to your arm

Biological product consultant Krista Pitts opens a box of vaccines as soon as it arrives at the Kamloops vaccine depot. She checks the temperature data logger enclosed in the box and places the vaccines in the specialized fridges.

Have you ever wondered how vaccines get safely from the manufacturer to pharmacies, health centres and clinics, and into your arm?

It’s okay if you haven’t—that’s the job of Jodi Fayant, Krista Pitts and Courtenay Uhrich.

“I think about vaccines 24/7—you can ask my family!” chuckles Jodi. “I love and respect vaccines. I consider them ‘my babies.”

Jodi is the lead for Interior Health’s (IH) Immunization and Informatics Program. In her role, she makes sure vaccines arrive safely at IH’s vaccine depots and beyond—to public health centres and community vaccine providers and clinics.

The certified medical device technologist has a background in microbiology and has been with IH for 19 years. She’s responsible not just for vaccines, but what’s known as biologicals, such as immune globulins (antibodies from human blood).

“Our job is to ensure every dose administered is safe, effective and protects as expected,” explains Jodi. “Consider a patient receiving chemotherapy, or someone who needs rabies products. A flu vaccine has to protect that vulnerable chemo patient, while someone exposed to rabies will almost certainly die without a treatment that’s effective.”

Follow the vaccine cold chain

A poster titled Cold Chain Management Overview showing icons of a manufacturer, plane, trucks, health centres and depots.

Cold chain management is a vital system that ensures vaccines remain at the correct temperatures during storage, transport and handling.

Krista Pitts is a biological product consultant on the Immunization and Informatics Program team. She’s responsible for vaccine transportation logistics and has been with IH for 17 years.

“Vaccines are sensitive products,” explains Krista. “They can be damaged permanently by improper handling and storage, and exposure to heat, light or freezing temperatures. Compromised vaccines are disposed of immediately. Not only are damaged vaccines ineffective, but they are a waste of valuable resources.”

“This process starts at the manufacturer of the vaccine and doesn’t end until it’s administered,” says Krista. “The process safeguards vaccines’ potency and protects public health.”

Follow a shipment of vaccines as it leaves the BC Centre for Disease Control, arrives at IH, and is distributed to pharmacies and community health clinics.

A person with dark brown hair, glasses and a mustache stands behind a truck with their hand on a dolly holding a cardboard box.
Dave, the BC Centre for Disease Control delivery driver, arrives at the Interior Health depot with vaccines and other products. He drives a temperature-regulated truck (called a reefer) designed for sensitive products.

 

A person with sandy blonde hair wearing a short sleeved blouse holds a temperature device in front of a cardboard box.
Krista Pitts, a biological product consultant, opens a box with the data logger inside. The data logger is stopped and verified to confirm temperatures have been maintained throughout the journey. If the temperatures are in range, the vaccines go into the fridges. If out of range, the vaccines are quarantined until a cold chain investigation can be done and determine if the product is either viable or not. If unviable, the vaccines are processed as waste. 
Two hands, one holding a temperature device, one recording data on a piece of paper.
When an IH vaccine depot or health unit receives a shipment, the receiver stops the data logger, generates the reports, completes the transport paperwork and places products into the fridge. Vaccines are used in clinics, or shipped to off-site clinics such as pharmacies.
A person with long dark hair with some pink in it in a white tshirt and black pants stands with their hands in their pocket next to an open fridge.
Courtenay Uhrich, a biological product consultant, stands in front of a refrigerator in Summerland. Vaccines are stored in IH depots in biological fridges where temperatures are checked twice a day. Temperatures are recorded on the fridge display, a min/max device, and a running data logger that records temperature data in real time. Just like milk at the grocery store, vaccines are stored according to dates, so those expiring first are the first to be used to minimize waste.
A hand written list of vaccines posted on a blue fridge.
Just some of the vaccines and biologicals stored in special fridges in the Summerland depot. Seen here is a list that includes tuberculosis test kits, varicella (chickenpox) vaccines, COVID vaccines and rabies treatments.
A person with long fingernails holds a cover over a refrigerated soft bag.
Vaccines are shipped to health units in special medical-grade, "verified shippers" that can maintain temperatures for up to five days. All shipments include transport paperwork and a recording data logger.

Diligent about protecting patient safety

Jodi and Krista share that there are a lot of moving parts when it comes to vaccine logistics.

“Our front-line staff are very diligent about protecting patient safety. They’re trained to follow protocols for handling, storing and transporting vaccines,” says Krista. “We also conduct regular audits of our processes.”

“Every vaccine expands the public’s bubble of protection, which is why cold chain management is taken very seriously,” adds Jodi.

“We like to think of it as saving the world, one vaccine at a time.”

April 21-30 is National Immunization Awareness Week in Canada. This annual event highlights and recognizes the importance of immunizations. Read personal accounts of people who have personally witnessed the devastating effects of vaccine-preventable diseases on their loved ones.

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