Storing and transporting a Covid-19 vaccine requiring temperatures lower than -70°C in Africa - with its limited infrastructure and weak, or sometimes non-existent cold chains in some countries - has seemed near impossible.An innovative solution by TOWER Cold Chain Solutions, however, may be exactly what the continent needs.According to Sean Petzer, tasked with developing an African hub for TOWER, the adaptation of the company’s KTM42 double-pallet container to store dry ice and maintain an internal temperature of less than -70°C has delivered a robust, reliable and reusable solution, ideal for the African landscape for all ultra-low or deep frozen requirements. “We were approached by several pharma and 3PL clients to solve the problem of keeping a palletised container at more than -70°C for 19 hours in transit and in storage at less than -70°C for five days. We’ve now tested two pallets at a range of -70°C to -80°C for 94 hours in transit and over nine days in storage while still maintaining the airline compliance on dry ice within a single container, so they are delighted,” said Richard Dudbridge, global marketing director for TOWER.Dudbridge said this was a huge breakthrough for the cold-chain industry and would help governments, pharma and logistics companies plan ahead with some confidence that the issue of storage and transportation had been effectively addressed.And particularly so in light of Covid-19, with most pharmaceutical companies saying it is highly likely that several vaccines may require more than -80°C.“Any working storage environment of lower than -35°C is harmful to humans,” said Petzer. “In addition, facilities like this currently don’t exist globally in the required quantity. Developed countries are actively working towards addressing this shortfall and in the US and Europe massive freezer farms are going up for the coronavirus vaccine.”In Africa these types of solutions could not be built quickly enough, he said. “Furthermore, the cost of running and maintaining storage areas capable of preserving that amount of product at that temperature is unimaginable. Developing countries will find it hard to finance the building, maintenance and running of deep-freeze warehouses.” At this stage, the length of time the pharmaceutical product will need to be kept in a deep-frozen state is not known and therefore replenishing dry ice safely will become a major concern going forward. Another important consideration, said Petzer, was that airlines had a strict 250kg dry-ice allowance for any one container. “At the moment containers that allow for a compliant <-60°C temperature are not big enough and therefore make transportation very expensive. Vaccines will need to be transported via air and land (and maybe sea) and therefore maintaining that temperature and compliance during complex and arduous transit will be difficult,” he explained. “The removal of small amounts of vaccines (when required) will mean that the container will need to be opened and closed easily, without breaching compliance and risking the loss of substantial amounts of product.”The revamped KTM42D is expected to offer huge cost savings. “We know that building and powering deep-frozen storage facilities is costly and prohibitive in rural areas. This solution allows for the current infrastructure to be used immediately at a fraction of the cost.”Built with a unique double door, the replenishing of dry ice can be managed by two operatives in under five minutes.