The folks at the Texas Department of State Health Services have created a vaccine refrigeration planning model that is available on their pandemic influenza web page. Dr. Cynthia Morgan led the development of the model. She emphasized in an email to me: “One important thing to note is the model takes thermodynamic into account for air circulation around master cartons. You can’t just pile them in the unit as tight as possible or there will be temperature problems.”
The model is a Microsoft Excel workbook that determines the storage space needed to keep vaccine refrigerated. The data inputs include the population to be served, the size of the vaccine storage cartons, and the type of shelving used. The model estimates the storage space needed in terms of cartons and shelves.
