Ultra-cold Freezing Presents Next Challenge in Covid Vaccine Race

新冠疫苗推高超低温冷冻箱需求

Demand for ultra-cold storage freezers has spiked as governments and manufacturers prepare to ship Covid-19 vaccines around the world and along the so-called last mile to those most vulnerable to the disease.

随着政府和制造商准备向世界各地运送新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19，即2019冠状病毒病）疫苗，并完成所谓的最后一公里递送，让高危人群能够接种疫苗，对超低温冷冻箱的需求出现激增。

Unique characteristics of the two leading Covid-19 vaccines mean they both have to be transported frozen. The shot developed by US biotech Moderna, currently under regulatory review in the US and the EU, can survive for six months at minus 20°C, the temperature of a standard domestic freezer. The vaccine developed by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech, approved for use in the UK this month, must, in contrast, be transported at minus 70°C.

两种领先的COVID-19疫苗的独特特性意味着，它们必须在冷冻状态下运输。由美国生物技术公司Moderna研发的注射疫苗目前正在美国和欧盟接受监管审查，可在零下20摄氏度（标准家用冷冻箱的温度）保存六个月。相比之下，由辉瑞（Pfizer）和德国BioNTech公司开发的疫苗（已于本月获准在英国使用）必须在零下70摄氏度下运输。

“A lot of governments even today are not prepared,” said Jesal Doshi, deputy chief executive at B Medical Solutions. The Luxembourg-based freezer producer has more than tripled its normal annual production of 500 to 1,000 units, recording massive demand for its 700L unit, used in laboratories and hospitals, which can store up to 280,000 vaccine doses.

“即使到今天，很多国家的政府还没有做好准备。”B Medical Solutions副首席执行官耶赛尔·多西（Jesal Doshi）表示。这家总部位于卢森堡的冷冻箱生产商已将500至1000台的正常年产量增加两倍多，其700升规格的冷冻箱眼下需求巨大，这些冷冻箱用于实验室和医院，可存储多达28万剂疫苗。

Ultra-cold freezer technology, while sophisticated, has been around for decades. A typical minus 80°C freezer works through a cascade refrigeration system, which combines two independent compressors to reach lower temperatures. A household freezer has only one compressor without a heat exchanger and uses different gases.

超低温冷冻箱的技术尽管复杂，但已经存在数十年。典型的零下80摄氏度冷冻箱采用级联制冷系统，该系统集合两台独立的压缩机以达到较低温度。家用冷冻箱只有一个压缩机，没有热交换器，并使用不同的气体作为制冷剂。

The BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have to be kept so cold because of the “lipid nanoparticles” used to enclose and protect the fragile genetic instructions that trigger the immune response. These microscopic droplets of oily liquid – about 0.1 micron in diameter – require cold storage to prevent them from degrading.

BioNTech-辉瑞和Moderna的疫苗之所以必须保持低温，是因为它们含有“脂质纳米粒”，这种“脂质纳米粒”包裹和保护着引发免疫反应的易碎遗传指令。这些微小的油状液滴（直径约为0.1微米）需要冷冻储存，以防止其降解。

Politicians, medical advisers and manufacturers have all stressed the practical hurdles in distributing BioNTech-Pfizer’s vaccine in particular, with UK prime minister Boris Johnson warning of “immense logistical challenges” in moving the vials, which are shipped in specially designed “pizza boxes.”

政界人士、医疗顾问和制造商都特别强调了分发疫苗的实际障碍，尤其是BioNTech-辉瑞的疫苗，英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊（Boris Johnson）警告称，在运送疫苗小瓶方面存在“巨大的物流挑战”，这些小瓶运输时装在专门设计的“披萨盒”中。

“Doing everything to keep vials or a pizza box at minus 80°C through the cold chain is a very significant feat,” said Dusty Tenney, chief executive of Stirling Ultracold, an Ohio-based manufacturer that counts Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and UPS among its customers. “It has never been really done before – never at this scale.”

“尽一切可能让疫苗小瓶或披萨盒始终在零下80摄氏度走完冷链，是非常了不起的事情。”总部位于俄亥俄州的制造商、客户包括辉瑞、强生（Johnson & Johnson）和联合包裹（UPS）的Stirling Ultracold的首席执行官达斯蒂·坦尼（Dusty Tenney）表示，“以前从未真正做到过这样的事情，从未以这样的规模。”

Mr Tenney said orders for ultra-cold freezers, which can achieve temperatures from minus 20°C to minus 86°C, had more than trebled in the last three months of the year compared with pre-pandemic levels, and stretched lead times to as long as six weeks.

坦尼表示，能够达到零下20至零下86摄氏度的超低温冷冻箱的订单，在今年最后三个月比疫情爆发前水平增加两倍多，交货时间延长至长达六周。

In addition to larger “hospital-sized” units, many suppliers have also received a spike in orders for smaller “undercounter” 100L freezers for use in pharmacies. The smaller units can hold about 4,500 vials, each containing 5 doses of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine, according to Richard Jafrato, general manager of Haier Biomedical UK.

除了较大的“医院规格”冷冻箱外，许多供应商还表示，用于药房的较小型“柜台下”100升冷冻箱的订单也出现激增。海尔生物医疗英国公司（Haier Biomedical UK）总经理理查德·贾弗拉托（Richard Jafrato）介绍说，这些较小的冷冻箱可容纳约4500个小瓶，每个小瓶包含5剂BioNTech-辉瑞疫苗。

Stirling Ultracold is also producing a 25L portable freezer that can be powered by a vehicle battery, enabling the BioNTech-Pfizer jabs to be transported, if necessary, into remote locations.

Stirling Ultracold还生产25升可搬运冷冻箱，这种冷冻箱可用汽车电池供电，使BioNTech-辉瑞疫苗在必要时可以运送至偏远地区。

Publicly available contracts show the UK government has spent close to £4m on ultra-cold freezers, which can cost between £3,000 and £12,000 each. In the US, companies are gearing up to vaccinate their workforces, with carmaker Ford buying freezers in preparation.

可公开获得的合同显示，英国政府已在超低温冷冻箱上支出近400万英镑，每台冷冻箱的价格介于3000英镑至1.2万英镑之间。在美国，企业正在加紧准备给员工接种疫苗，其中汽车制造商福特（Ford）已购买冷冻箱作为准备。

Some smaller suppliers said they had already sold out of ultra-cold units until March. However, freezer-related delays to vaccination programmes are thought to be unlikely after large-scale producers such as China’s Haier and Japan’s KKR-backed PHC Holdings increased output earlier in the year.

一些较小的供应商表示，截至3月交货的超低温冷冻箱已经售罄。然而，据信不太可能出现与冷冻箱相关的疫苗接种计划推迟，因为大型生产商，如海尔以及KKR支持的日本PHC Holdings在今年早些时候已经增产。

Despite the challenges, installing the systems needed to transport the vaccines should be possible in both developed and developing economies, said Mr Doshi at B Medical. “The challenge isn’t the magnitude that everyone’s talking about, it’s not that difficult,” he said, adding that even delivery to remote, poor communities could be achieved.

卢森堡B Medical公司的多西表示，尽管面临挑战，在发达经济体和发展中经济体安装运输疫苗所需的系统都应该是可能的。“挑战并不像大家在谈论的那么大，难度没那么大。”他表示。他补充说，就连向偏远贫困社区运送疫苗也是可以实现的。

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