UofA says ‘Freezer Farm’ is ready to store 1.6 million doses of coronavirus vaccine

Storage freezers could serve as a hub for Arizona's immunization efforts

TUCSON, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - The University of Arizona announced Friday it has completed work on an ultra-cold storage facility that could hold more than 1.6 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine.

The so-called "Freezer Farm" includes eight freezers to accomodate both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Seven of the freezers operate at minus 80 degrees Celsius (minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit). They're designed to hold the Pfizer vaccine. The other can provide storage at minus 20 C (minus 4 F), the temperature needed to preserve the Moderna vaccine. Two additional minus 20 C freezers are on the way.

With the first shipments of vaccine expected in mid-December, the UofA freezer farm could play an important role in Arizona's plan for vaccine distribution. It a secure, reliable, state-of-the-art facility where the vaccine can be held and readied for distribution.

"This freezer farm plugs directly into the existing infrastructure of a long-standing, proven relationship between basic science and clinical research," said UofA President Robert C. Robbins. "By providing this facility, we are continuing to do what we have been doing throughout this pandemic – leveraging the unparalleled, diverse and creative strengths we have at this university to serve our community and distribute aid whenever possible."

Each freezer at the facility has the capacity to hold between 100,000 and 187,000 doses of vaccine.

"The University of Arizona is poised to be instrumental in receiving, managing and distributing COVID-19 vaccine," said David T. Harris, executive director of the University of Arizona Health Sciences Biorepository.

Harris says the Biorepository is perfectly positioned to take on this role.

"For the past five years, we have been involved with banking biological specimens from the hospital and university researchers," he said. "We have been involved in research with ICU and COVID patients, as well as with producing the PCR tests and tens of thousands of rapid antigen tests. We know exactly how to work in that environment."

Harris added, keeping the vaccines chilled during shipment is less complicated than many may believe.

"It may sound like it's a really difficult situation, but universities and laboratories have been shipping stuff on dry ice around the world for the past 30 years," Harris said. "Dry ice is not anything new and not something that is in short supply."

Trained personnel will closely monitor each freezer at the UArizona freezer farm. Several tanks of liquid nitrogen are kept on hand to help maintain safe freezing conditions in case of technical issues, or power outages.