The Business Bytes
PRIYABRAT BISWAL
BHUBANESWAR, FEB 9, 2021
In a bid to strengthen its vaccine cold-chain infrastructure, Godrej Appliances, the business unit of Godrej & Boyce, has added ultra-low temperature freezers to its portfolio.
These advanced medical freezers can preserve life-saving medical supplies including critical vaccines below -80°C and are aimed at boosting both Indian and global medical cold chain.
Godrej Appliances has played a major role in the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination drive in India through its medical refrigeration solutions that safeguard the sensitive vaccines at the right temperature.
“Inadequate cold chain equipment is one of the key challenges, which can lead to inefficacy of the vaccines and cost human health. With Godrej’s decades of expertise in refrigeration technology, the brand offers a range of advanced cold storage solutions for vaccines and life-saving supplies that can help governments across the world in their fight against the Covid-19,” Jamshyd Godrej, Chairman and Managing Director, Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company Ltd. told media persons today.
Godrej Appliances is currently deploying vaccine refrigerators which maintain a precise temperature of 2-8°C to store the highly temperature-sensitive Covaxin and Covishield vaccines being administered in India, as part of the national tender it received in October 2020. Medical freezers which maintain -20°C are also being deployed for the diluents and ice packs needed for the last-mile delivery in the Covid vaccination drive.
While the company has increased its production capacity in medical refrigerators from 10,000 units per annum to over 35,000 now, it plans to increase its capacity in ultra-low-temperature freezers from the current 10,000 units per annum to over 30,000 units, informed Kamal Nandi, Business Head and Executive Vice-President, Godrej Appliances.
“Now, with our newly launched range of advanced ultra-low-temperature freezers, which can provide a temperature of below -80°C, India will also have the storage solutions readily available for other Covid-19 vaccines being deployed across the world,” Nandi said.
These freezers are particularly suited to mRNA-based vaccines which are being deployed in other countries currently. Now, Godrej Appliances’ portfolio of medical equipment will also be able to handle the storage of the two new vaccines in India that are expected to be rolled out, Nandi added.
He further said that the Godrej Appliances is focusing on augmenting capacity of the ultra-low-temperature freezers, and also investing in mobile clinic delivery solutions.
