To enable the safe and efficient transportation of vaccines to remote areas, a portable refrigeration device has been developed. Known as Emvolio, this battery-powered device is expected to improve the efficiency of the immunisation by maintaining preset temperature for up to 12 hours. The device has a two-litre capacity enabling it to carry 30-50 vials of vaccines, the standard for a daylong immunisation campaign.
“Due to its ability of the device to strictly maintain the temperature between 2°C and 8°C for up to 12 hours in the field, the device is being used as a platform for delivery of vaccines and all other biologicals like blood, serums, viral culture,” reads the press statement issued by the Ministry of Science & Technology yesterday on July 8.
The device has been developed by a Karnataka-based startup Blackfrog Technologies Pvt Ltd — a certified manufacturer of medical devices. The project was supported by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a non-profit evolving biotechnology industry set up by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Emvolio provides facilities for continuous temperature monitoring as well as location tracking. The innovation, as claimed, solves the current challenge of last-mile vaccine delivery as currently iceboxes, which have no mechanism for temperature control and regulation, are being used. “The absence of temperature control and regulation in iceboxes also poses the risk of accidental freezing and thawing, rendering the temperature-sensitive vaccines inefficacious,” said the ministry.
Vaccines are reportedly required to be stored within a specific temperature range during the several stages of manufacture, distribution, storage, transport and administration. Else, the exposure to higher temperature other than specified can render vaccines completely ineffective.
As of now, the startup has a production capacity of 1,500 units per month. The new device is being deployed across North-East India with necessary clearance from the National Health Mission.
Apart from that, Blackfrog has so far sold over 200 vaccine carriers across five states in India for safe last-mile delivery of vaccines.
On January 5 this year, Department of Biotechnology Secretary Renu Swarup said that all Indian vaccines developed against the coronavirus such as Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin will have to be stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius.
Also Read: COVID-19 vaccine: How prepared is Uttar Pradesh with cold storage chain facilities?
