Importance of medicine fridges for vaccine storage

Vaccines must be stored in specialized refrigerators designed for the storage of pharmaceutical products.

Domestic refrigerators do not provide the optimum environment and food, drink and clinical specimens must never be stored alongside the vaccines. What's more, opening the door to the refrigerator should be kept to a minimum to prevent cold loss.

A temperature gauge should be visible from the outside to prevent the door from being opened excessively, and the temperature should be monitored continuously with a maximum-minimum thermometer, which identifies when the temperature has been outside of the optimum range. Both integrated and mains-powered thermometers should be used in the event of electricity loss.

A temperature gauge comes as standard with every Mercatus Bioscience refrigerator. In fact, all products in the Acura range at all times have visible internal temperature and product temperature. In addition to monitoring temperature, our refrigerators also provide alerts to detect deviations of temperature that go above or below the maximum or minimum temperature setting.

Refrigerator temperatures should be recorded at least once every working day, using the four Rs - read, record, reset and react. First daily reading, then daily recording, before resetting the temperature gauge after each reading, and reacting if the temperature falls out of the optimal limit. Operators can easily do this using Dialog IoT, available for all products.

The refrigerator must be held within a locked room or feature a lock as Mercatus Bioscience does, as all vaccines are classified as prescription-only medications. As an additional level of security, Acura models have the ability to set up different user access levels, so that at all times medicines are kept safe.

As a good practice, the refrigerator must be placed in a position away from heat sources and kept clean, our cabinets are developed and tested to operate from +10ºC up to +43ºC. Besides that, the medicine drawers in our pharmaceutical cabinets are made from antibacterial polymer to elevate the hygiene levels inside the cabinet.

In addition to this, regular visual inspections of the fridge must be conducted to ensure the safety of the equipment and that there is no build-up of ice. Pharmacy staff should also record details of regular serving, cleaning, defrosting, and testing, kept alongside the fridge.

Arrangements must also be in place if the refrigerator breaks down. This includes keeping the vaccine refrigerator door closed to maintain the temperature, establishing the last temperature recording and cause of fluctuation, informing the relevant commissioning organisation, and quarantining all vaccines that could have been affected. This can be done easily and recorded on all Acura models using Dialog IoT software or through the real time temperature graph that is available at all times via the controller. This is of the utmost importance as it may be required to safely dispose of any unusable vaccines that could jeopardise patients safety.

Vaccine refrigerators from Mercatus Bioscience

With 27 years of experience in refrigeration, the Bioscience range from Mercatus offers premium cooling and refrigeration products, with a temperature range of +2ºC to +8ºC, specifically designed for use in pharmacies, hospitals, and laboratories. The Bioscience collection, which encompasses Acura and Exige, provides optimal conditions and uninterrupted reliability for the storage of vaccines, medication and prescriptions using the technology of tomorrow, today.

Proper vaccine storage in pharmacy fridges is paramount for vaccine efficacy and patient safety. Adhering to best practices, which include keeping vaccines in their original packaging, maintaining the correct temperature range, ensuring airflow, preventing freezing, and effective stock management, is essential. Mercatus Bioscience's innovative products, like the Acura and Exige series, address these requirements with precision.

Their refrigeration systems are tailored to meet specific temperature needs, offer convenient organisation options, and come with monitoring solutions such as Dialog IoT. By choosing Mercatus Bioscience, pharmacies can confidently safeguard vaccine integrity and contribute to public health while meeting the highest standards of vaccine storage.

An essential practice is maintaining a strict temperature compliance, our Acura range allows for easy and efficient temperature monitoring by leveraging technology. Boasting a 7’’ touch screen with built-in battery and numerous functions, making it the more intelligent and advanced solution at Mercatus.

The Dialog IoT system remotely monitors samples, vaccines and products using intelligent metrics to maintain their integrity. It oversees components, performance indicators, and environmental conditions for proactive action, using real-time measurements to help avoid spoiling pharmaceutical products by detecting temperature deviation and power failure.

Our Exige range offers an energy efficient alternative whilst maintaining unmatched and reliable temperature regulation capabilities to ensure compliance to top pharmacy refrigeration practices. All products can fit a variable interior arrangement of grid shelves or medicine drawers.

To help pharmacies keep on top of temperature, our Exige range features a variety of warning signals and can be supplied also connectivity-ready. Additionally, the electronic digital display is easy to use and enables users to take action immediately, if needed.

Join us in our mission is to improve people's health by delivering products that ensure the ideal conservation conditions for the storage of medicines, vaccines and other sensitive products essential to people's lives.

For more information or advice on the best pharmacy refrigerator solutions, contact our team today .