Vital vials: A look at how COVID-19 vaccines will be stored

The major companies making vials in India include Schott Kaisha, Saint Gobain, Borosil Klasspack and Gerresheimer India.

This undated photo issued by the University of Oxford shows of vial of coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University in Oxford, England. (Photo | AP)

As expectations grow that the first COVID-19 jabs will be administered soon, German glassmaker Schott and other manufuturers continue to do quietly what they have been for months: Churning out vials that will store the vaccine. 

The New Indian Express takes a look:

What the vials are made from?

• High-quality borosilicate glass, favoured by the pharma industry
• 1890: The glass type was invented by Otto Schott, a chemist from a family of glassmakers
• Together with scientists Ernst Abbe and Carl Zeiss, he set up a lab that would lay the foundation for modern glass technology

Extreme temperatures 

• What makes borosilicate glass special is that it can handle temperatures from -80 to 500 degrees Celsius

Chemical composition

It is also chemically inert, meaning there is no chemical interaction between the container and the liquid inside, preventing any interference that could potentially harm the vaccine. Borosilicate glass is considered “the gold standard” for packaging drugs

Number of doses

Some vials can be made to hold up to 10 doses of a vaccine. India is expecting to vaccinate over 20 crore people by mid-2021, which means that 50 crore doses may be required by then

Which is handy?

Considering the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine needs to be stored at a frigid-700C

Indian vial makers

The major companies making vials in India include Schott Kaisha, Saint Gobain, Borosil Klasspack and Gerresheimer India

Tried and tested

• The vial technology from German firms Schott and Gerresheimer is familiar to regulators and is expected meet strict international norms, meaning that they won’t hold up the vaccine authorisation process
• 3/4ths: Of more than 100 coronavirus vaccine trials are getting vials from glassmaker Schott
• 2 billion: Schott alone aims to produce enough vials to store two billion doses of a coronavirus vaccine by the end of 2021
• 20 sites: For producing pharma glass and packaging the firm has globally

ALSO WATCH: