Thermo King, a global leader in intelligent end-to-end temperature-controlled cold chain solutions and a brand of Trane Technologies, and its dealer network help UNITAX-Pharmalogistik GmbH ensure precise and stable temperature-controlled transportation of COVID-19 vaccines in Germany. Unitax, a Good Distribution Practice (GDP) certified expert in pharmaceutical transport and logistics, has been awarded with the exclusive contract to supply all the vaccination centres in the Brandenburg federal state with COVID-19 vaccines.
The GDP compliant delivery fleet from UNITAX is fully equipped with Thermo King V-Series refrigeration units and features real time tracking and monitoring. The combination of refrigeration and telematics technologies provide confidence that vaccines remain within the required temperature range, the efficacy and integrity of the product remains intact, and that the medicine will be safe and effective for patients.
“The most important thing is to support safe – and fast – delivery of the vaccine to people,” said Francesco Incalza, president of Thermo King Europe, Middle East and Africa. “At Thermo King, we are helping to ensure the vaccine is quickly and efficiently distributed to the vaccination points, and that means working closely with distribution companies like UNITAX. They can rely on us, and our dealers, to provide the technology and support needed to guarantee the integrity of different variants of the vaccine in transport.”
“UNITAX now supplies about 200 GP practices, around 75 hospitals and eleven vaccination centres. Vaccinations in retirement and nursing homes are carried out by vaccination teams who receive the Covid 19 vaccine from the vaccination centres. UNITAX is currently on the road with ten special vehicles, each of which supplies 15 to 20 delivery addresses daily”, said René Gutke, transport manager at Unitax.
The UNITAX fleet, used for the last-mile transport of the vaccines, consists of GDP-certified Mercedes Sprinter vans with Thermo King V-500 refrigeration units. The temperature in the load compartment is actively monitored via telematics and can be viewed in real time in the Thermo King TracKing portal. All the data from Thermo King TracKing is also seamlessly transferred and integrated into the system of UNITAX’s third party monitoring service provider. It allows UNITAX to have a clear view of all the relevant data, including temperature and door contact sensors, at all times.
“We have been relying on Thermo King refrigeration systems since we started in the pharmaceutical logistics business over 30 years ago,” said René Gutke. “We’ve also been using real-time telematics monitoring ever since it became possible. Knowing we have the Thermo King team on standby – even for mobile service missions in case an urgent repair is needed – gives us the peace of mind.”