The first coronavirus vaccinations will begin in Germany on the Sunday after Christmas. Once the vaccines have been authorised, millions of doses of serum have to be delivered from the pharmaceutical companies to interim storage facilities at a constant minus 70 degrees Celsius and distributed from there. The right packaging solutions are needed to ensure that the vaccines remain fully effective.
One important manufacturer of suitable shipping boxes is the German medium-sized company Schaumaplast, which specialises in refrigerated packaging for the pharmaceutical industry with its Thermocon division.
Preparations began in the summer
Schaumaplast has been working with customers on special packaging for the ultra-low temperature range since the summer, when the conditions for the logistics of the coronavirus vaccine became known. Experts at the headquarters in Reilingen, Baden-Württemberg, develop, qualify and manufacture the powerless, mostly reusable cooling systems for the required temperature range together with the sister plants
Special insulated containers are filled with dry ice for this purpose. The solid substance, which has a temperature of minus 80 degrees, vaporises without leaving any residue and develops the energy that ensures reliable cooling performance for at least five days. Several thousand cooling systems already left the Schaumaplast plants for the logistics centres last week.
Boxes from small to large
The company produces a wide range of shipping sizes, from small two-litre packages to Euro pallets with a packing volume of 1,200 litres. Many packaging sizes are equally suitable for the temperature ranges of other COVID-19 vaccines, which have to be transported at -20 degrees or plus 2 to plus 8 degrees Celsius. The „flagship“ is the pallet transporter. This container can hold a fully packaged or preconditioned Euro pallet and safely refrigerate the temperature-sensitive goods for more than five days in some cases.
[infotext icon] To the Schaumaplast Group headquartered in Reilingen, Germany, has further plants in Germany, Poland and the USA. Under the THERMOCON brand, a separate division specialises in the development, production and qualification of passive, i.e. currentless, thermal packaging. The complete solutions, thermoboxes and cooling elements are used for shipping temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical and biotech products. Depending on the application, products can be transported in a range from minus 70 degrees to plus 50 degrees. In the pharmaceutical sector, the „refrigerator zone“, i.e. plus two to plus eight degrees, is one of the most sought-after temperature ranges[/infotext].
