“Quality of the vaccines not impaired”: Doubts about the cold chain at Berlin Moderna delivery cleared – Berlin

After doubts about the cold chain of the 2400 vaccine doses of the Moderna company, which were delivered to Berlin and Brandenburg on Tuesday, all concerns have been dispelled. The vaccine will be used in Berlin from Friday.

The two federal states had initially withheld the delivery on Wednesday because there were suspicions of cooling problems during transport. The cans must be stored at minus 20 degrees. Once they thaw, they only last twelve hours.

In the morning, the Federal Ministry of Health gave the all-clear. “The quality of the vaccines was not affected by the transport and the vaccines are safe to use,” said a spokesman.

The Brandenburg authorities agreed with this assessment shortly afterwards: According to the state government, the corona vaccine delivered to Brandenburg by the US manufacturer Moderna can be used despite initial fears of cooling problems.

“In summary, it can be stated that the quality of the vaccines should not have been impaired by the temperature fluctuations and the transport and that the vaccines can be used safely,” said Health Minister Ursula Nonnemacher (Greens) on Wednesday in the state parliament’s health committee.

Moderna cans are injected in Wedding

Recently, Berlin also dispelled the doubts. Previously, the Senate Health Administration had only taken note of the all-clear from the Federal Ministry of Health and continued its own examination until the end.

The Moderna vaccine will now be injected from Friday in the new vaccination center in the Erika Hess Stadium in Wedding, said the spokesman for the Berlin Senate Health Administration, Moritz Quiske. It is supposed to open on Thursday, on the first day there will be vaccination with Biontech cans.

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The Berlin doubts about the cold chain of the Moderna vaccine had ignited on the refrigerated truck on the packaging, reported Quiske. It was unclear in Berlin whether the truck met the technical standards for such deliveries. The vaccine was also “more likely in cardboard boxes”. Otherwise, styrofoam or metal packaging is common.

Eugen Brysch, board member of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, sees the caution of the federal states as positive: “The stop of the Moderna vaccination doses makes it clear that authorities take the control of logistics before contamination seriously,” he said. “Such actions strengthen the population’s confidence in the vaccination campaign. That is exactly what makes the success. “

Logistics company: temperature is precisely controlled

The first corona vaccine from the US manufacturer Moderna to arrive in Germany was distributed to all federal states on Tuesday via a Bundeswehr barracks in Quakenbrück, Lower Saxony.

According to the logistics company Hellmann, everything went according to plan; GPS-monitored freezer vehicles were used for the deliveries. The temperature in the interior is also precisely controlled.

The Moderna vaccine must be stored at around minus 20 degrees Celsius. It is stable for 30 days at refrigerator temperature and twelve hours at room temperature. The preparation is the second corona vaccine approved in the European Union alongside the agent from the manufacturers Biontech and Pfizer. (dpa)