14 December 2021
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Despite the challenges posed by lockdowns, staff shortages and travel bans in New South Wales, Ellab Monitoring Solutions was quick to fulfil orders for temperature monitoring equipment needed for the millions of doses of the BioNTech Pfizer vaccine stored in Sydney’s hospitals.
Supporting Australia’s pharmaceutical and health sectors, Ellab’s distributor down under, ECEFast, supplied and installed the Hanwell Pro and IceSpy wireless monitoring systems. Sensors keep tabs on the environmental conditions in the hospitals’ freezers to ensure that the vaccines are fit for purpose before being administered to patients in the battle to stop the spread of Covid-19.
Ellab (formerly Hanwell), the UK manufacturer of wireless environmental equipment, says its monitoring solutions are ideal for tracking the storage temperature of Covid vaccines, which must be maintained at the correct temperature during both transport and when they reach their destination, especially vital in warm climates.
Coronavirus jabs require real-time temperature monitoring of between -2 to +8°C in medical fridges and are kept as low as -80°C, when stored in a super cold environment, or else the vaccine is rendered ineffective. An ascending time-temperature indicator alerts users of exposure to unacceptable temperature variations.
Sydney’s hospitals required quick and easy-to-view real-time monitoring and reporting of conditions, enabling quick response and correction – preventing loss of product and ultimately protecting patients from being administered a vaccine that has breached the integrity of the cold chain. Hanwell IceSpy is a cost-effective solution that looks after vaccines over a sustained period of time, verifying at the point of use whether those temperatures have or haven’t been breached.
Derek Richardson, international sales director at Ellab, said the Hanwell Pro and IceSpy solutions deployed so quickly in Sydney are another safeguard for maintaining the effectiveness of vaccines when in cold storage facilities, needed during these critical times.
He explained: “Our Australian distributor was able to respond quickly to the NSW’s health authority’s urgent request for 100% reliable equipment to monitor these life-saving jabs, which will clearly show if the vaccines have been compromised by a temperature breach. This kit is playing a blinder in keeping the State’s inoculation programme on track.”
When vaccines are wasted, it’s mostly through breaching correct storage temperatures. Having efficient monitoring in place should encourage all those who are responsible for the safety of these precious jabs to do their utmost to safeguard them under proper conditions.
Wireless temperature monitoring systems from Ellab are being used in pharmaceutical and healthcare facilities across the world, where climate control within fridges and freezers is vital to keep vaccines safe during the Covid pandemic.
