South African Helium producing company Renergen has announced that it has the capacity to store the Pzifer’s Covid- 19 vaccine. The company said that they can store the vaccine at -70 degrees Celsius for up to 30 days without using electricity.
The Pzifer vaccine requires to stored under super cold conditions. For this reason, even transport vehicles used to get it to rural areas have to be refrigerated. In addition, airline companies used to transport it will need permission t use large quantities of dry ice.
Using the Helium they produce, the company has patented new storage containers called the Renergen Cryo- Vacc that stores the vaccine at -70 degrees Celsius for up to 30 days. The containers are made of Aluminum and weigh less than 20 kilograms. It carries up to 100 vaccine doses in stack format.
The Renergen Cryo-Vacc contains a reservoir of liquid helium rather than bulkier options of liquid Nitrogen or Dry Ice. The liquid helium forms when helium gas is lowered to -269 °C. The liquid helium is boiled and slowly released to maintain a constant temperature.
The listed comopany has called upon partners to help in large scale manufacture of the Renergen Cryo- Vacc containers and equipped logistics companies to transport them.
