New mobile freezers may be game changer in vaccine distribution

New mobile freezers could be a possible game changer when it comes to storing and transporting COVID-19 vaccines.

And that’s just the start – the North Carolina Policy Collaboratory, based at UNC-Chapel Hill, ordered 62 freezers to increase cold-storage capacity. Each freezer can store up to 7,000 doses of vaccine.

Those freezers, varying in size, began shipping out to 15 college campuses across the UNC system Friday.

Dr. Jeff Warren, executive director of N.C. Policy Collaboratory, says the vaccines are only effective if they are actually distributed.

“Vaccines don’t protect people, vaccinations protect people," Warren explained. "So you’ve got to get them into the arm to make it work and you’ve got to be able to store them.”

Warren​ was in charge of picking out the freezers. Out of the 62 in total, 32 are large freezers, one is a mid-sized freezer and 29 are small mobile units.

The mobile units can charge in your car, holding cold temperatures to make traveling to rural areas a breeze.

“We’ve got 29 of the shuttles that were mobile that actually plug into the charging port in a vehicle," Warren said.

Craig Martin, a Raleigh resident who plans to get vaccinated, believes the ability to reach rural communities is crucial.

“I think it’s going to be huge, because not only do those communities not have all the resources from the hospitals, but they don’t really have the public transportation or access to transportation to allow them to go to bigger cities," Martin said.

Martin is hopeful the freezers will help vaccine distribution move that much faster for him and his family.

“Yes my 94-year-old grandmother got vaccinated last weekend so very excited about that but I know everyone is anxious and ready to get their vaccine.”

Most of the 29 mobile freezers were delivered Friday while the rest of the freezers should be delivered by Wednesday of next week.