Millions of dollars worth of vaccines are secure at Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health's headquarters and security precautions may be taken when remote COVID-19 vaccination clinics are set up later this month, says the local medical officer of health.
WDG Public Health’s headquarters in Guelph was built in 2014 with security of vaccines in mind, said Dr. Nicola Mercer at a press conference Wednesday.
“This is a brand new building, we are really fortunate to have it,” said Mercer.
WDG Public Health has the capacity in its freezers to store almost 100,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, with the capacity expected to expand by another 100,000 early next week.
Mercer said security is top of mind every step of the way, from the time the vaccine is delivered. The first shipment of 975 doses of Pfizer vaccine arrived on Tuesday with an OPP escort.
An additional 1,950 doses are expected every week for the next three weeks.
Millions of dollars worth of every kind of vaccine is stored on site at any one time, said Mercer, even before the current pandemic.
“When you have that kind of inventory you really need to be careful with it,” said Mercer. “I can assure you the vaccines we have on site are being well protected and well-monitored throughout the process, from the time we get it until it is put in the arms of our clients.”
“We have video camera surveillance, we have alarm systems, we have staff. There are many layers to protect the site of the vaccine,” she said.
In addition to conventional security, Mercer said there are additional layers of vaccine-specific security in place.
“The freezer the vaccine is held in is monitored. It’s not just monitored on site, it’s not just alarmed, it’s not just that the freezer itself is wired into the wall so that plug can’t come out. It’s on a backup generator. It’s remotely monitored so we have real-time monitoring of all of our vaccines — not just this one,” said Mercer.
WDG Public Health plans to store and administer the Pfizer vaccine from its office on Chancellor’s Way, in part because of the need for it to be stored at minus-70C until it is ready to be used.
Mercer said there are pilot projects in other parts of the province testing the feasibility of transporting the Pfizer vaccine and WDG Public Health will wait until those results are known before attempting it.
“We have the equipment, we have the partners in place and if we need security — whether it’s police or other security — that will be put in place to safely move it,” said Mercer.
In the meantime, WDG Public Health is expecting a shipment of 3,000 Moderna vaccines next week. Because the conditions under which it needs to be stored are less stringent, the plan is to use that vaccine for remote vaccination sites, like in long-term care homes and high-risk retirement homes.
“Right now when it’s so valuable and so rare people are interested,” said Mercer. “As we move forward and it becomes more routine and lots of people have the vaccine you will see that the interest in the movement of the vaccine will not be as high and maybe not as risky.”
