KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 — The government will ensure all vaccination centres in the country will have the ultra-cold storage facilities needed for some types of Covid-19 vaccines, said Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.
The health minister said this was to ensure there was no wastage of the vaccines procured due to improper storage at any of the 605 centres.
He said the Health Ministry also performed a test run on January 29 to assess the durability of the vaccines during transit.
“During our dry run on January 29 we managed to deliver the vaccine to a remote area and made sure the vaccine was safe at arrival at the point where we vaccinated the people.
“To avoid spillage and wastage of doses given to us, we are using the low dead volume syringes which have a dead volume of only 30 microlites,” Dr Adham said in a press conference after the launch of the National Immunisation Program website and guidebook launch.
“Beside that to ensure we have proper storage facilities, all 605 vaccination centres will have the ultra low temperature freezer and storage space for it.”
The Pfizer-Biontech Covid-19 vaccine must be kept at -70 degrees Celsius for long-term storage.
Each Pfizer vial contains six doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Extracting it with minimal wastage is key because when a medication or vaccine is injected, some amount of it can linger in the syringe in what’s known as the “dead space” between the plunger and needle.
Low-dead space syringes are designed to minimise that, hence the need for the low dead volume syringes.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin then added that if a person does not turn up for his vaccination slot, they would give the dose to the security personnel or volunteers at the vaccine centres.
