Inside a secret warehouse used by Los Angeles County to store and distribute the COVID-19 vaccine, activity has been non-stop since the vaccines were approved.

The NBC4 I-Team got an exclusive inside look inside the warehouse. It’s so secret, we can’t tell you where it is — only that it’s somewhere in the more than 4,000-square miles of LA County.  

Claire Jarashow, the Director of Vaccine Preventable Disease Control at the LA County Department of Public Health, runs the entire operation.    

“We coordinate and help with the state and the federal government, the cold chain for the vaccines, the distribution, administration and accounting of,” she said.  

She says it’s been non-stop, 24/7 since the vaccines were approved. With no playbook to guide them, they’ve had to figure it out as they go.

“I’ve worked on a variety of different epidemics and outbreaks, but nothing like this,” she said.  

Imagine the challenge of processing and distributing shots in a county of 10 million people. That’s like trying to vaccinate the entire population of Sweden or Honduras, and all while positive COVID-19 cases and deaths were affecting family after family.

“I think because this is such a lifesaving endeavor, I would have to say that a lot of the bureaucracy was cut through every level,” Jarashow said.

She explains the federal government shipped vaccines to the California Department of Public Health and then, the state would send a different amount to the county each week.

Then, the county had to figure out how many doses vaccine locations needed every day, with each brand of vaccine having its own storage and dosage protocols. There were 40 to 80 pick-ups and drop-offs daily.

If there were extras at any location -especially as vaccination lines started shrinking — they scrambled to make sure no doses were wasted.

“We’ll have partners that say, okay, we’re going to keep clinics open till midnight so you can dump vaccine here at the end of the day that may expire in the next day,” she said. “Our goal is 0% wastage. But that’s a really hard thing to do.”

But they got pretty close.

Of the 10 million doses sent out in LA County, the latest data from the California Department of Public Health released and analyzed by the I-Team shows 696 vaccines expired, 802 spoiled, and several hundred more landed in the trash for reasons like broken vials and syringes or doses in already opened vials going unused.

That amounts to only 0.032% tossed out in L.A. County. The number of wasted vaccines statewide also less than one percent, at 0.079%. The data detailing vaccines that expired, spoiled or wasted ranges from December 2020 to April 2021. In California, vaccine providers must report daily inventory and wastage to the state.

Read: Vaccine Reporting Requirements

“This was done at an incredible speed after the science was there and it’s pretty amazing and I think it’s going to change vaccination, distribution forever,” Jarashow said.

For more on how many vaccines spoiled, expired or were trashed in your local county, see below.

The latest promising advances in coronavirus vaccines are now posing even more questions. How will it be distributed? How will we get the vaccine? Who is helping to get the vaccine safely to us?

In the latest CBS Sunday Morning segment, correspondent David Pogue talks about how Cold Box is helping to ship the vaccine safely and efficiently to be readily available to those that need it first. 

Thomas Tighe, the CEO of Direct Relief, a nonprofit that distributes medicine to community health centers and free clinics, explained: “It goes from the manufacturers to the distributors to the CVSes and Walgreens and RiteAids of the world, to doctors’ offices directly.”

And you have to keep it cold.  Some of the vaccines are getting down to -70 degrees Celsius [-94 Fahrenheit]. Ultra-cold!

Tighe introduced Pogue to the concept of the cold chain for medicine distribution.

“If you buy ice cream, you’re receiving food through a cold chain. It’s manufactured, it’s kept cold ’til it gets to the distribution center of your grocery store, where you are the picker and packer. You are your own last mile.”

If the FDA gives approval to the new coronavirus vaccines, some of them will soon be crossing the country in special containers surrounded by super-frozen slabs. They assemble the slabs around the box, enveloping it in cold.  The temperatures of each box can be monitored throughout its journey via GPS.

And for use on planes and trucks, there’s a self-contained, battery-powered shipping freezer. “On a forklift, you could bring this,” Tighe said. “It’s rated for -20 Celsius, -4 Fahrenheit.”

“It does seem like there’s a big difference between the Pfizer vaccine with its -94 requirements, and the Moderna, which could survive in a lot of these existing cold technologies,” said Pogue.  

Watch the full interview with Colc Box here: https://www.cbs.com/shows/video/WRUaB1wa4M2CA5t19hRJjid5Z4aUKh4u/

Read the full article: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-vaccine-breakthroughs-distribution-cost-pandemic/

When manufacturers begin sending COVID-19 vaccines across the country, they have to use a special shipping container to do so. That special shipping container is the Cold Box which can protect temperature-sensitive cargo, such as the vaccines.

Some of them are made right here in north Alabama. The Cold Box Express in Arab, Alabama has been in business for six years.

In fact, it is the only active ground transportation system in the world that makes and leases cold box storage units, according to CEO and President Foster McDonald.

“Our boxes can hold up to, we believe depending on how the packaging for the vaccines come, 7,000 or 8,000 doses in one box,” said McDonald. Watch the full interview here

Several companies are working to get emergency authorization for their coronavirus vaccines. The potentially life-saving vaccines must be shipping in very cold temperatures. The only active cold chain supplier in the world is in Northeast Alabama.

Hear from Cold Box CEO and President, Foster McDonald on how they are working to help transport the COVID-19 vaccines safely and correctly in the US. Watch the full story

When we traveled to Dehli, India in January, it was a pleasant 67 degrees; by summer, the temperature will likely climb above 110. Naturally, India’s pharmaceutical industry faces unique challenges when it comes to transporting life-saving medications, vaccines, and other sensitive products in one of the world’s toughest climates. However, the biggest challenge isn’t the […] The post Refrigerated shipping in the world’s hottest places! The Cold Box. appeared first on Refrigerated Trucking Transport & Frozen Shipping Custom Critical Cold Box Pallet Shipper.

While refrigerated shipping by air is reliable into and out of India, refrigerated LTL trucking options are scarce and often sub-par. As the second-largest producer of pharmaceuticals in the world, that’s a big problem for India. With an extremely limited supply of validated refrigerated trucking options and even fewer controlled room temperature (CRT) shipping or frozen shipping solutions,  “Last Mile” transport accounts for over 90% of pharmaceutical spoilage in the country.

We knew COLD BOX could help. We jumped at the chance to present our custom critical shipping solution at a conference sponsored by Pharma Connect, one of India’s leading pharmaceutical trade publications. As we demonstrated COLD BOX’s active temperature control and real-time monitoring capabilities at the Shangri-La Hotel in Delhi, one thing became clear: COLD BOX could create dramatic positive change here.

The reception from India’s key pharmaceutical and transportation industry decision-makers was “a bit overwhelming,” according to our CEO, Foster McDonald. “The Indian pharmaceutical market is quite advanced, but the domestic logistics capabilities are far behind.  COLD BOX will be responsible for solving an important problem that inhibits cold chain movement throughout the country.”

We’re thrilled to be bringing COLD BOX to India in 2018!

The post Refrigerated shipping in the world’s hottest places! The Cold Box appeared first on Refrigerated Trucking Transport & Frozen Shipping Custom Critical Cold Box Pallet Shipper.

Returning for their 4th consecutive year as sponsor and exhibitor, Cold Box Express is excited to attend the 15th Annual Global Forum featuring industry professionals in temperature controlled life science supply chains in Chicago from September 25-29, 2017 at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place. Joining Cold Box Express’ experienced sales team will be 850+ industry leaders. The post Cold Box Express To Sponsor 15th Annual Global Forum on Temperature Controlled Life Science Supply Chains in Chicago, IL appeared first on Refrigerated Trucking Transport & Frozen Shipping Custom Critical Cold Box Pallet Shipper.

Joining Cold Box Express’ experienced sales team will be 850+ industry leaders, 100+ expert speakers, & 120+ fellow solution providers from 30+ countries for interactive discussion groups, roundtables, master class, site tours, awards ceremony and much more. As a major sponsor of the Global Forum, Cold Box Express’  expanded booth will showcase one of the fully functional palletized, custom critical shippers to allow the sales team to provide one-on-one demonstrations of the shipper’s validated capabilities for temperature controlled life science supply chains as well as answer any questions you may have surrounding your company’s specific cold chain requirements.

When compared to traditional refrigerated transport and frozen shipping used in the life science supply chains, Cold Box Express’ custom critical pallet shipper proves its worth as more reliable and more cost-effective.

Contact Us about how Cold Box Express can revolutionize your temperature controlled life science supply chains. 

This week, Cold Box is pleased to present their exciting new product at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) in Tampa, FL. Our advanced portable water provisioning system called Oasis Water System represents a leap forward in water provisioning for forward deployed personnel. 

Completely portable and entirely green, the Cold Box’s mobile water system provides fresh, chilled or temperature managed water and does not generate waste as it is used.  Utilizing the same advanced technology as our self-powered pallet shippers, the Oasis Water System’s rechargeable batteries, that can also be supplemented by solar panels, allow the unit to maintain and dispense up to 275 gallons of chilled water.

The Special Operations Forces Industry Conference is a multi-day conference for the SOF community to interact with industry providers such as Cold Box, to collaborate on the challenges and initiatives in delivering the most cutting-edge capabilities through numerous educational sessions, demonstrations, interaction with exhibitors and many networking opportunities across the SOF community.  For more information, see  https://www.sofic.org/

For more information on the new Oasis Water System, Cold Box’s new portable water provisioning system, contact our professional sales team at  https://cbxtemp.com/contact

Cold Box Express was recently featured on Alabama local news website AL.com promoting their battery operated, ‘active’ temperature controlled full pallet shipper produced in their Arab, AL based manufacturing facility.  

Arab’s Cold Box Express has been fully operational for about a year, and interest is growing in the company, which rents climate-controlled shipping containers from depot sites around the country.

Think of it as a U-Haul for a very sophisticated refrigerator. The Cold Box is a one-ton shipping container with about 60 cubic feet of space inside.

Made of aluminum and molded plastics, it can maintain a temperature of anywhere from 10 below zero to 140 degrees Fahrenheit for up to five days without recharging. That means items meant to stay cold will do so, and payloads with specific temperature requirements won’t freeze in winter transport.

Cold Box has an active temperature control system, meaning it doesn’t use dry ice. It also doesn’t involve any exhaust emissions. Running on internal batteries, the Cold Box’s temperature can be customized for any client and is tracked and monitored around the country by GPS and cellular connectivity. It also has security measures.

It is designed to hold a standard 40 by 48 inch pallet. An alternative to shipping in refrigerated trucks, the Cold Box can be recharged on standard power outlets and carried by forklift or pallet jack.

The company offers daily rentals of about $240 a day, varying according to the weight and size of cargo. Month-to-month and longer term leases are available, and the company has a network of 20 sites around the country to allow for economical shipping.

“Our aim is to deliver a unit to a customer within one day,” CEO Foster McDonald said. “And we can do that pretty effectively.”

The Cold Box was developed in Texas, but McDonald’s company bought the technology and spent more than a year on fine-tuning the design and setting up a nationwide rental network, he said. It took some time to hone the container, making it sturdy and resistant to the worst a forklift operator can dish out.

“Getting it right was not that simple,” he said. “Everything we did was about maintaining efficiency, reliability and ruggedness.”

A native of Arab, McDonald and his late father Sid, started the company before Sid’s death in 2015. Sid was a well-known telecommunications businessman, establishing Deltacom Long Distance Services in the early 1980s and serving as chairman of Intergraph Corp.’s board of directors.

“This is home,” Foster said. “I grew up here.”

So far, clients have included food service, pharmaceuticals, the medical industry, chemical companies and the oil services business. For pharmaceuticals, Cold Box works in keeping chemical components at the right temperature, and documenting those temps for the journey in keeping with federal regulations.

McDonald said the company is looking at expanding to international markets, as well as making inroads into the defense market. For example, Cold Box can be used to store and dispense cold water, and the company has played around with a tap concept on the door which could be used for beverages.

“Every time we turn around, there’s a new application that’s possible,” he said. “Our challenge is staying focused.”