Supporting your practice: Cold chain management and vaccines

Pharmacists play a vital role in the distribution, dispensing and administration of life saving vaccines. A vaccine is a fragile, biological product that may contain live attenuated, modified, toxoid or killed microorganisms, which when administered into the body (vaccination), provides immunity to a disease. For a vaccine to be effective, it needs to be stored between +2 and +8 degrees Celsius (°C) from the time of manufacture to the point of administration. The system of transporting and storing vaccines within this temperature range is known as the 'vaccine cold chain'.