Tata, Godrej making vaccine storage units | Economic Times

Gearing up for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that require ultra-low temperature storage, Indian companies such as Tata-owned Voltas and Godrej-owned Godrej Appliances are expanding their vaccination storage unit production and upgrading technology.Blue Star, another major player in cold chain manufacturing, is ramping up production of medical refrigeration units for Covaxin and Covishield, which will soon be supplied in larger quantities, as well as those units that can store the Sputnik V and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccines. 82697136 The company said even Pfizer and Moderna jabs can be stored in its medical freezers, if transported along with dry ice and administered quickly.Voltas will launch its ultra-low temperature freezers required for storage of Pfizer and Modern jabs by August. Godrej Appliances has already developed such units for these vaccines and will start production once orders come in. Voltas managing director Pradeep Bakshi said the company is in the process of importing ultra-low temperature deep freezers which can support storage up to minus 86 degrees Celsius. The company has tied up with an overseas partner for their production. “We will be ready to cater to this requirement by the time these vaccines arrive in India around August,” said Bakshi of Voltas.For currently available Covaxin, Covishield and Sputnik V vaccines, Voltas is scaling up production of storage units. The government, currently presiding over a vaccine shortage in the middle of a savage second Covid-19 wave, recently set an availability target of 2.16 billion doses by August-December.Godrej Appliances is ready to start manufacturing vaccine storage units that can function at minus 80 degree Celsius as soon as orders are placed, said its business head Kamal Nandi. “The product has been developed but we did not receive any order till now. But now we expect orders will come, with the government keen to get Pfizer and Moderna vaccines,” he said.Nandi said Godrej currently has capacity to produce 30,000 units of this medical equipment per year and has roped in more suppliers so it can ramp up production. The market for the minus 80-degree units in India was, at best, 2,000 units per annum, used largely in research laboratories. Therefore, Indian manufacturers had no incentive to scale up manufacturing capability till recently.Blue Star managing director B Thiagarajan said the company has expanded production and is flooded with orders. He said a 1,000 sq ft cold room can store 1.44 lakh vaccine doses, while a 400-litre medical freezer can store 76,000 doses.“India already has a reasonably good vaccine storage infrastructure due to its immunisation programme, which is being further beefed up. The real issue is no more about the cold chain availability, but rather the availability of shots,” said Thiagarajan.