Godrej Appliances launches ultra-low temperature freezers for vaccine storage

Godrej Appliances, the business unit of Godrej & Boyce, has now added ultra-low temperature freezers to its portfolio that cater to vaccine cold chain storage facilities.

These advanced medical freezers can preserve life-saving medical supplies including critical vaccines below -80°C and are aimed at boosting both Indian and global medical cold chain.

The Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 needs to be stored at -70°C while the Moderna vaccine needs a temperature of -20°C (though it can be kept in the refrigerator at 2°C to 8°C for up to a month). The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine needs a storage temperature of 2°C to 8°C.

Business Head and Executive Vice President, Godrej Appliances said that the company has received orders of Rs 150 crore for cooling products from the central government and various non-profit organisations for storage of the vaccines.

Godrej Appliances is currently deploying vaccine refrigerators that maintain a precise temperature of 2 to 8°C to store the highly temperature-sensitive Covaxin and CoviShield vaccines being administered in India, as part of the national tender it received in October 2020.

The medical refrigerators used for storing vaccine help keep the vials (small glass container holding vaccine doses) at an optimum temperature so that it is effective for disease control. In areas where there is regular fluctuation in electricity, solar power is used by the Godrej Appliances' products.