The UK has become the first country in the world to approve the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, with an estimated 800,000 doses set to be made available next week.
But amid hopes of a rapid rollout, authorities are faced with the logistical challenge of storing the vaccine at around -70C.
So, what happens next?
Pfizer has said it intends to manufacture up to 50 million doses globally in 2020. These will be manufactured and distributed from the companys various production sites in the US, Germany and Belgium.
The pharmaceutical giant said it expects 20 planes will be taking flight daily around the world to deliver the doses to the relevant countries, where the doses will then be transported to distribution centres. Pfizer has already ruled out ocean transport due to timings.
Read more
Once the vaccine supply arrives in the UK it will undergo quality checks to ensure it has been shipped safely.
How will the vaccine be kept cold?
Supplies of the vaccine can either be stored in freezer farms at -70C, which will maintain the integrity of the doses for up to six months.
But if the shots are on the go, this makes matters far more complicated. There has never been been a drug that requires storage at such low temperatures, meaning the necessary cold-chain is being rapidly put together on a rolling basis.
To get around the problem of storage, Pfizer has developed a specially built deep-freeze “suitcase” that can be tightly sealed and transported even in non-refrigerated trucks.
These boxes are with packed with dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) and installed with GPS trackers, which will allow Pfizer to remotely track the location and temperature of the frozen vaccine vials. Each reusable box can keep up to 5,000 doses of the vaccine at the right temperature for 10 days.
The thermal shipping systems can be recharged with dry ice if needed, Pfizer said.
The boxes can only be opened twice a day for less than three minutes at a time while maintaining temperature standards.
Distributing and administering doses
The deep-freeze suitcases will give authorities 10 days to transport doses from the UKs distribution centres to dedicated vaccination centres across the country.
A number of venues have already been earmarked, including sports halls, leisure centres and even the Copper Box stadium in London’s Olympic Park. The NHS Nightingale Hospitals are also being considered.
Once delivered, the vaccine can be stored in traditional fridges (2C-8C) for up to five days, meaning authorities will be short on time to administer all available doses without wasting any.
Because of the logistics involved, local GPs are unlikely to have access to supplies any time soon, though Public Health England has said that longer-term national preparations are under way regarding central storage and distribution across the country.
It is expected that at first the rollout will begin in hospital sites with sub-zero freezing capacity, to stop the vaccine vials from thawing too quickly. Health secretary Matt Hancock said on Wednesday morning that 50 hospitals in UK are already set up and waiting to receive supplies.
1/50UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
1 December 2020
Artic Fox, Flo, investigates a stocking of treats in her enclosure as part of a Christmas enrichment programme at the wildlife conservation charity Wildwood Trust in Herne Bay, Kent
PA
UK news in pictures
30 November 2020
A man carrying a Christmas tree walks past a mural depicting a Saltire design in Leith, Edinburgh on St Andrew’s Day
PA
UK news in pictures
29 November 2020
Wolverhampton Wanderers Leander Dendoncker warms up before the Premier League match against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, London
PA
UK news in pictures
28 November 2020
Police officers wearing a protective face coverings speak with a protester during an anti-lockdown protest against government restrictions designed to control or mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus, on Regents Street in London
AFP via Getty
UK news in pictures
27 November 2020
Protesters from Peta animal rights group demonstrates against fox hunting in Westminster
PA
UK news in pictures
26 November 2020
A billboard displays a Manchester City Council message about the city’s Covid alert level
AFP via Getty
UK news in pictures
25 November 2020
Chancellor Rishi Sunak visits the Imperial Clinic Research Facility at Hammersmith Hospital in London
Getty
UK news in pictures
24 November 2020
Freight lorries queueing along the M20 in Kent waiting to access the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone
PA
UK news in pictures
23 November 2020
A palette of changing colours as the sky lights up before sunrise at St Mary’s Lighthouse in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear on the North East coast
PA
UK news in pictures
22 November 2020
Daniil Medvedev poses with trophy after winning the singles final during day eight of the ATP Finals at The O2 Arena, London
PA
UK news in pictures
21 November 2020
Members of the public walk through the city centre on the first day of tier four coronavirus restrictions in Stirling, Scotland. Over two million people in the West of Scotland are now living under the country’s toughest level of coronavirus restrictions, following the rules coming into place at 18:00 yesterday seeing the closure of non-essential shops must close, as well as pubs, restaurants, hairdressers, gyms and visitor attractions
Getty Images
UK news in pictures
20 November 2020
The bronze statues of John and Cecil Moores, founders of the Littlewoods company, in Liverpool, with face masks on them as England continues a four week national lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus
PA
UK news in pictures
19 November 2020
James Stunt arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London to give evidence in the trial of Justinas Ivaskevicius, 34, who is accused of stealing a 16.18-carat fancy yellow diamond from 38-year-old Stunt’s substantial Belgravia mews
PA
UK news in pictures
18 November 2020
UK PARLIAMENT/AFP via Getty Imag
UK news in pictures
17 November 2020
People gather on the the Comedy Carpet in front of the Blackpool Tower waiting for the funeral cortege of entertainer Bobby Ball to pass on its way to Carleton Crematorium in Blackpool
PA
UK news in pictures
16 November 2020
Shipping companies and retailers have complained of delays in unloading arriving freight, with one ship told it could wait up to 10 days for a berthing slot
Getty
UK news in pictures
15 November 2020
Rainbow over Gwrych Castle in Abergele, North Wales, where the new series of Im A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! is taking place
PA
UK news in pictures
14 November 2020
Hindu monks set up Diya lamps at the BAPS Neasden Temple, London, on this morning of Diwali
BAPS Media
UK news in pictures
13 November 2020
Dominic Cummings, special advisor for Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street
Reuters
UK news in pictures
12 November 2020
A surfer silhouetted against the waves at Tynemouth, near North Shields
PA
UK news in pictures
11 November 2020
People walk past the Tommy statue, officially named 1101, on Terrace Green by the seafront in Seaham, County Durham, on the anniversary of Armistice Day. Across the UK people fell silent in remembrance of the nation’s war dead, as the coronavirus pandemic limits public commemorations
PA
UK news in pictures
10 November 2020
Number 10 special advisor Dominic Cummings waits to be admitted to 10 Downing Street in London
AFP via Getty
UK news in pictures
9 November 2020
A mural of the president of the United States, Donald Trump which has been painted on the side of Islington Mill arts hub in Salford, Manchester
PA
UK news in pictures
8 November 2020
Chelsea pensioners watch a Remembrance Sunday service from their windows at the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Reuters
UK news in pictures
7 November 2020
D-Day veteran Jim Healy, 95, from Manchester who is taking part in the Royal British Legion’s doorstep silence for Remembrance. Jim was a Corporal in the Royal Marines and was coxswain of a landing craft assault on June 6, 1944 and will observe the Two Minutes Silence on Sunday by standing on his doorstep
PA
UK news in pictures
6 November 2020
The sunrises over woodland in Ashford, Kent
PA
UK news in pictures
5 November 2020
Two men walk over a nearly deserted Westminster Bridge, in foggy conditions, at the start of a four week national lockdown for England
PA
UK news in pictures
4 November 2020
Laura Martindale, manager of The Rocket public house in Whiston, pours away spoilt beer that has gone off after the pub was placed into tier three and now faces a four week lockdown ahead of a national lockdown for England
PA
UK news in pictures
3 November 2020
An oast house surrounded by autumn colours in the morning sunshine near Hawkhurst in Kent
PA
UK news in pictures
2 November 2020
Large waves crash over the harbour wall in Newhaven, East Sussex, during strong winds
PA
UK news in pictures
1 November 2020
Shoppers queue outside Ikea in Batley, West Yorkshire, after Boris Johnson announced a new national lockdown will come into force in England next week
PA
UK news in pictures
31 October 2020
Boris Johnson announces new restrictions in No 10
Getty
UK news in pictures
30 October 2020
The hallway of the Halloween house of Conor Pilkington (centre), 23, from Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, who has gone all out this year with his Halloween display. Conor has spent an extra £5000 to make it extra special due to the covid pandemic
PA
UK news in pictures
29 October 2020
Chief of Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter (centre) joining members of all three armed services, in Waterloo Station, London, to support the Royal British Legions Poppy Appeal by collecting donations and selling poppies on London Poppy Day
PA
UK news in pictures
28 October 2020
Surfers take to high waves caused by Atlantic swells in Mullaghmore in Co Sligo
PA
UK news in pictures
27 October 2020
A rare giant Japanese spider crab is moved into the sale room during a preview of the forthcoming Evolution Sale at Summers Place Auctions, Billinghurst, West Sussex
PA
UK news in pictures
Felixstowe Port Congested Amid Brexit Stockpiling And Pandemic Pressures
Getty
UK news in pictures
26 October 2020
A television crew prepare to do a live transmission opposite the Nave Andromeda, an oil tanker berthed at Southampton docks, southwest England. British soldiers yesterday boarded the tanker and detained seven suspects, the defence ministry said, after the crew were forced to take shelter from stowaways who threatened them
AFP via Getty
UK news in pictures
25 October 2020
Staff from British Divers Marine Life Rescue and Tynemouth Aquarium release three seal pups at St Marys Lighthouse in Whitley Bay. They were rescued after being found abandoned on the North East coast
PA
UK news in pictures
24 October 2020
Edinburgh University students protest against the false promise of ‘hybrid learning’ to new and returning students during the Covid-19 pandemic in Edinburgh, Scotland. The protest was organised to enable the students to show their anger and disappointment to the University of Edinburgh, after the students felt they were misled after they returned to find the vast majority of their lectures and contacts were all online
Getty Images
UK news in pictures
23 October 2020
The sun rises over the Severn crossing as traffic crosses from England into Wales, where a countrywide firebrake lockdown will begin from 6pm today until 12.01am on 9 November
PA
UK news in pictures
22 October 2020
EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier wearing an EU-flag themed face mask arriving at a conference centre in central London to attend a new round of trade talks with the UK
AFP via Getty
UK news in pictures
21 October 2020
The RRS Sir David Attenborough, the UK’s most advanced polar research ship, passes The Royal Liver Building after leaving Cammell Laird shipyard, Birkenhead, Merseyside. The crew are scheduled to conduct 14 days of technical trials off the coast of North Wales before the the shipyard formally hands it over to the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) crew for intensive training at Holyhead Port. The new polar ship will transform UK research in the polar regions and will be used on BAS missions which are critical for understanding and making sense of changing climate.
PA
UK news in pictures
20 October 2020
Prime Minister Boris Johnson outside Downing Street, ahead of a Cabinet meeting at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
PA
UK news in pictures
19 October 2020
A man walks past a mosaic on a wall in Manchester
Reuters
UK news in pictures
18 October 2020
Cyclists cross a bridge over Flechs Water near to Brockenhurst in the New Forest
PA
UK news in pictures
17 Ocotber 2020
Pedestrians walk pas the Royal Seabank Hotel in Blackpool as Lancashire enters tier 3 of the governments coronavirus alert system
Getty
UK news in pictures
16 October 2020
A person wearing a face mask is reflected in an art work entitled “A=V” by Ben Cullen Williams in Covent Garden, London
REUTERS
UK news in pictures
15 October 2020
A gallery technician poses next to The Seagram Murals, by artist Mark Rothko during the New Collection Displays photocall at Tate Britain in London
Getty Images
UK news in pictures
14 October 2020
A red deer stag stands behind females, called hinds, during the rutting (breeding) season which takes place during autumn, in Bushy Park, south west London
AP
Pfizer’s vaccination requires two doses 21 days apart, making it more complicated to deliver the required number of shots and ensure supplies do not go to waste.
Health secretary Matt Hancock said: “This is a challenging rollout and the NHS in all parts of the UK stands ready to make that happen.
“They are used to handling vaccines and medicines like this, with these sorts of conditions.
“It’s not easy but we’ve got those plans in place, so this morning I spoke to my counterparts in the devolved nations to make sure that we are all ready to roll out this vaccine … from early next week.”
Professor Arne Akbar, president of the British Society for Immunology, said: This announcement is not the end of the story and there is still much work to do. Roll out of the vaccine is going to be a logistical challenge and rely on our dedicated healthcare professionals around the country.
