The Cost Of A Broken Vaccine Cold Chain Part 1: Human Cost

With the advent of flu season, patients swarm to immunization programs throughout the country.  Yet, each year, some of those vaccinated succumb to life-threatening seasonal influenza. Sadly, many of these are preventable in that the primary cause of vaccine failure often occurs when pharmaceutical storage temperatures reach levels of degradation during the cold chain process.  In a study of vaccine losses from 2010 to 2012, for example, the Military Vaccine Agency analyzed temperature-sensitive loss trends based on reported vaccine losses and found that all of those losses were preventable in that they were caused by a failure to properly store and handle the vaccines (MILVAX, 2013, p.3).

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