In today’s food transportation and storage industry, there’s always a need for refrigerated and frozen warehousing. At Minnesota Freezer Warehouse Company, we recognize the importance of reliable, high-quality climate-controlled warehousing, and we provide dry, refrigerated, and frozen storage to a global food industry.
Our warehouse locations in the Upper Midwest are situated as perfect between-points from coast-to-coast and border-to-border with rail and freight shipping options offering streamlined transit of products worldwide. While frozen food products make up the majority of what our freezer storage in Albert Lea, MN and Austin, MN handles, we also import, store, and export other goods that must be kept at certain temperatures and transported on time. One current example of these goods is vaccines.
While all vaccines are important, especially ones like the flu vaccine during these winter months, everyone is most eager to hear about the results of the COVID vaccines. At this time, Pfizer and Moderna are the top candidates to begin widespread vaccine delivery.
Pfizer: Pfizer has been testing their vaccine on individuals since mid-November of 2020. The vaccine is proving to be effective between 90% and 95% according to varying reports. The challenge with the Pfizer vaccine is that it needs to be stored at extremely low temperatures. Depending on how long the Pfizer vaccine will be stored, those temperatures can be as low as -112ºF. So far, Pfizer has used thermal shipping containers that keep internal temperature at -92ºF and can hold up to 4,875 doses per unit. While Pfizer, distributors, and hospitals are working out various storage solutions, it’s likely that a large freezer storage warehouse like MFWC’s facilities will never be used due to the extreme temperature requirements.
Moderna: Like Pfizer, Moderna has been testing their vaccine since last fall. Their reports show the vaccine is 94.5% effective in test patients. In addition to this high success rate, the Moderna vaccine can also be stored safely at much more reasonable temperatures. For up to thirty days, the Moderna vaccine can be stored between 36ºF to 46ºF, temperatures typical of a home refrigerator. For up to six months, the vaccine can be stored at -4ºF and can even last 12 hours at room temperature. Because of this much more easily achievable temperature range, the Moderna vaccine is more likely to be transported and kept in typical freezer storage facilities like MFWC warehouses.
Overall, both vaccines are estimated to be at least 50% effective in all patients. Only time and more data will tell how widely the two vaccines will be distributed, their cost, availability depending on the patient, and how they are stored.
To learn more about Minnesota Freezer Warehouse Company and our comprehensive dry, refrigerator, and freezer storage in Albert Lea, MN, contact us at (507) 373-1477 today or info@mfwc-cold.com