The New Face of Inoculations in the COVID-19 World

COVID-19 has fundamentally challenged our healthcare infrastructure on multiple levels, and the series of surges following the initial outbreak continues to push our capabilities to treat patients and protect frontline workers daily. However, with the development of several COVID-19 vaccines, we can see the light at the end of this tunnel. But healthcare institutions still need to perform the important work of delivering inoculations to millions of people as safely and quickly as possible.

To manage safety and speed, organizations are implementing measures for social distancing and protections for healthcare workers. One of these measures is the curbside vaccination clinic, where providers support safe, non-traditional treatments for patients.

Here, we will discuss how curbside inoculation changes how we think of vaccine clinics and how a robust cold chain infrastructure can support them.

Why Drive-Through and Curbside Vaccination Clinics?

Because of the threat of COVID-19, there has been a decrease or complete halt to non-urgent healthcare procedures. This is especially true for face-to-face care that requires contact between employees and patients.

The threat of in-person COVID-19 communicability does not go away during the vaccination process. Since inoculation inherently calls for in-person treatment, doctors and nurses planning on any vaccination program could face exposure. Considering the large volume and rapid rollout associated with the COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC recommends curbside vaccination clinics. Many providers are turning to these unconventional methods to drive vaccination uptake for the broader public while protecting their employees from illness.

How Are Curbside Vaccinations Safe and Secure?

The obvious answer to this question is that it helps maintain social distancing. But there are several layers of safety in play here that protect people in significant ways:

1. Frontline workers are protected from the population. According to CDC recommendations, the first recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine are the frontline healthcare workers dealing with the population.
   
   While this is an essential step in the overall COVID-19 prevention and vaccination strategy, it does not mean these workers are invincible. We are still waiting to see how the COVID-19 vaccine will work in wider circulation and for how long. With that in mind, it is critical to continue to maintain safe practices like masks and social distancing, at least for the immediate future.
    
2. Potential COVID-19 carriers can be isolated from non-infected individuals. There is no way to guarantee that patients in line waiting for vaccinations are not already sick or are with someone who is potentially infected. With the kind of volume we will see for these vaccinations, it is safer when healthcare providers can control person-to-person contact to protect people.
    
3. Maintaining proper, streamlined access to the vaccine. Outside of basic safety measures, it will be critical for healthcare providers to effectively manage the flow of vaccine recipients. With controlled access to inoculation through a drive-through or curbside service, it is easier to ensure that the flow of vaccinations can continue at a manageable pace.
    

How Curbside Inoculation Relies on Proper Vaccine Storage and Monitoring

Personal safety aside, the most important aspect of these non-traditional methods of inoculation is the ability to maintain the effectiveness of the vaccine. Of the potential COVID-19 vaccine candidates available, at least one requires ultra-cold storage, and all require strict temperature controls.

Running vaccine clinics outside does not change the fact that vaccines need proper cold storage. Healthcare providers can extend their cold storage to remote locations, but that does not change the need to maintain proper cold chain standards.

When the time comes to run a curbside vaccination clinic, you will still need the proper storage and monitoring solutions as recommended by the CDC:

• Keep refrigerated or deep-freeze storage units within an acceptable temperature range.
• Check and record minimum and maximum unit temperatures at the start and end of the day.
• Check temperature when accessing the unit for any dosage.
• Ensuring all units are calibrated for the temperature ranges for the relevant vaccinations and diluents.
• Maintain storage monitoring with a CDC-compliant Digital Data Logger (DDL) equipped with back-up battery power, robust alarms systems, and regular data logging capabilities in line with recommendations.

These regulations are aligned with in-person inoculation within a healthcare facility. To better respond to the needs of a non-traditional vaccine clinic with curbside service, consider picking DDLs with significant communication and storage capabilities. DDLs with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and cellular connectivity can break your reliance on Wi-Fi and local servers, particularly when working in tandem with mobile applications and high-volume data storage capacity.

Support Curbside Vaccination and Keep Patients Safe

The purpose of curbside vaccinations is to keep people safe. With the right cold chain support and forward-thinking planning, your healthcare institution can be ready for the oncoming COVID-19 vaccine from a logistics standpoint and prepare for the new practices of inoculation that will be part and parcel of modern vaccination during COVID-19.