As vaccine manufacturers continue to roll out COVID-19 vaccines, thousands of health care networks, hospitals, and large and small pharmacy groups around the world are working to properly receive and house the critical cargo, which has unique and specific cold storage requirements.
Aside from the stress caused from the vast number of vaccines that need to be distributed, we also need to plan for non-traditional delivery points, such as mobile clinics, which will require precise temperature control and safeguards in all modes of transport and storage. Reliable, temperature-controlled equipment that provides security, traceability and temperature monitoring is more critical than ever.
Two businesses. One common customer
In response, Trane has joined forces with Thermo King — another Trane Technologies strategic brand — to offer Thermo King’s SuperFreezer to customers needing alternative cold storage options for vaccine storage.
The Thermo King SuperFreezer is derived from a freezer designed for premium grade sashimi tuna. As vaccine candidates were being developed earlier this year, Thermo King worked quickly to reposition and adapt this proven product as a solution for vaccine storage, to maintain the ultra-low temperatures required by some vaccines.
Now, non-healthcare customers including food banks and grocery stores are also taking advantage of the flexible uses of this cold storage solution, tapping Trane to help fill their needs.
Lending a logistical hand
Beyond cold storage and transport solutions, Trane and Thermo King are helping apply our manufacturing and logistics expertise in collaboration with major healthcare systems and global transport companies.
Novent Health recently announced the opening of six mass vaccination distribution sites across North Carolina, requesting 95,000 doses a week to meet high demand and ensure equitable and effective distribution. Thermo King’s large-capacity SuperFreezers are onsite to support the safe storage of the vaccines, and our teams have helped implement operational and logistical planning, allowing the sites to run as efficiently as possible.
“Trane Technologies’ expertise in helping coordinate our COVID-19 vaccination response effort has been invaluable,” said Kimberly Henderson, chief of staff and senior vice president of executive leadership development for Novant Health. “It’s amazing to see a company as large as theirs move so quickly to action. This is exactly how you build community, for the greater good.”
In Germany, a large logistics customer was authorized to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine just before the Christmas holiday. The company placed an order for SuperFreezers and began testing the units in preparation for a massive vaccine distribution effort. Our Thermo King team worked together with this customer on Christmas Eve, providing critical advance testing support to ensure our equipment was fully ready to protect the vaccine shipments when they arrived. Shortly after, the company was able to successfully begin their COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
The greatest integration of solutions
With unprecedented challenges in combating the coronavirus pandemic, the most successful efforts in recovery and human resiliency call for the greatest collaboration, including the integration of solutions, technologies and capabilities.
Together, our global network of Trane and Thermo King colleagues place the utmost importance on helping customers and communities around the world in the most efficient and advanced ways possible.
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