Inside look at how Baptist Memorial Hospital – Golden Triangle plans to store Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine

COLUMBUS, MISS. (WCBI) – As 2.9 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are shipped out across the country this week, Baptist Memorial Hospital – Golden Triangle among the facilities who have made special preparations for storing those inoculations.

“This is like a central hub so we can store several hundred doses of vaccine so we can distribute it to clinics and other locations where they will only be able to store it for five days,” says Baptist Memorial’s Director of Pharmacy Eli Hilton.

The hospital is set to get 500 doses of the Moderna vaccine on December 21st, but it’s the Pfizer vaccine that requires special preparation.

“There’s a lot of training that goes on with our staff to make sure our staff are properly trained to handle something that is stored at ultra-low temperatures,” Hilton says. “It’s something we really haven’t done in an inpatient pharmacy setting before.”

Hilton says that training includes handling dry ice, using proper protective equipment like gloves and goggles and how to transfer the vaccine into their brand new ultra-low temperature freezer.

Once the vaccine is delivered, hospital staff have about 10 minutes to move it from the shipping containers and into that freezer.

“It’s critical we get this vaccine transferred into this freezer,” Hilton says. Messenger RNA, that’s the type of vaccine this is, is not very stable at room temperature.”

Once the vaccine is inside, the freezer must stay closed for two hours.

“It maintains that temperature between -116  and -76 degrees Fahrenheit,” Hilton says. “And this is so big because we eventually expect to receive many more vaccines and we’re going to be able to redistribute that vaccine to other locations.”

The ultra low freezer can store the vaccine up to six months and is constantly monitoring the temperature.

“Every 15 minutes a temperature is recorded,” Hilton says. “If there’s any excursion, I’ll get an email and our computers will also get an alert.”

With the vaccine short in supply but high in demand, Hilton says Baptist Memorial Hospital is making sure they take every precaution to keep it safe.

“We can guarantee you that if you get the vaccine from our facility, it’s going to be monitored, stored appropriately, and effective.”