Senators urge HHS, CDC to ensure that states have ultra-cold storage for COVID-19 vaccines

A group of Senate Democratic recently urged the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to work with state and local officials to identify gaps in ultra-cold storage capability, particularly in rural and underserved communities.

This capability is critical following the news that Pfizer/BioNTech may soon apply for Emergency Use Authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine candidate, which requires ultra-cold temperature storage capabilities. The senators sent a letter to the heads of HHS and CDC asking for those agencies to provide additional information to help ensure that stakeholders nationwide can be prepared to distribute, store, and administer ultra-cold vaccines as soon as one is approved or authorized. They could be available as soon as next month.

“While we understand that some logistical details may be unknowable at this time given that a vaccine has yet to be granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), it is alarming that the federal government has not provided more detailed guidance or additional resources to help state, territorial, and local governments understand the most likely mechanisms for distribution or requirements and recommendations for maintaining the cold chain, funding projections, or critical risks that should be addressed,” the Senators wrote. “This lack of guidance has severely hindered the ability of state, tribal, territorial, and local public health officials to develop distribution plans and of individual clinics to prepare to accept, store, handle, and administer vaccines, and to share their comprehensive plans with CDC. Additionally, unknowns around cold chain storage issues add to the already difficult task of ensuring vaccination locations can schedule vaccine clinics to administer the doses quickly while also adhering to public health protocols like social distancing.

It was signed by 11 Democratic senators, including Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tina Smith (D-MN), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Brian Schatz (D-HI).

“The time to get ahead of potential distribution issues and cold chain requirements is now. The federal government should be looking ahead to secure our supply chains and prepare to adequately transport and distribute whatever vaccine becomes available first. Communities around the country are still trying to compensate for the federal government’s failure to secure adequate and sustainable supplies of personal protective equipment earlier this year and throughout the pandemic. That failure has had tragic results, and your agencies should be doing everything in your power to avoid such a fiasco with the distribution of a vaccine,” they added.

They asked for responses to a list of questions, including whether state vaccination plans report on the number and location of health care providers that have ultra-cold storage capabilities and what the critical risks are that state, Tribal, territorial, and local health departments should plan for in advance of vaccine distribution.