The project intends to support the construction of a state-of-the-art, climate-resilient central vaccine cold storage facility, of approximately 4000 square meters of built area. The building will have adequate space for dry item storage, maintenance unit, office staff, cold chain equipment, biomedical unit for maintenance of cold chain facilities, vaccine waste management, backup center for national health data, and facilities for health staff training in Hulhumale’. The new central vaccine storage facility will replace the existing temporary central cold chain storage facility in Male, which now lacks the required storage capacity and is in a dilapidated condition.
The cold chain is a set of rules and procedures that ensure the proper storage and distribution of vaccines to health services from the national to the local level. The cold chain is interconnected with refrigeration equipment that allows vaccines to be stored at recommended temperatures to maintain their potency. The supply chain is the distribution of vaccines and other immunization program inputs that follow a schedule of shipments established to ensure that each health facility receives its vaccines and inputs at the right time, in the right amount, in the right conditions and temperatures.
Depending on the type of vaccine there are two temperature ranges for storage: Vaccines that are sensitive to freezing should be stored at temperatures between 2°C and 8°C. Vaccines produced with viral and/or lyophilized strains can be stored at temperatures between -15°C and -25°C. The given table summarizes vaccines, storage period, and temperatures according to the operating level of the cold chain.