12 hours ago
by Jason Beaubien (NPR)
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FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — President Biden this month announced plans to ship a half a billion doses of the Pfizer vaccine to the 100 lowest income countries in the world. That would include Sierra Leone and many other sub-Saharan African nations.
But there’s a looming problem. The Pfizer vaccine needs to be stored at minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit. In all of Sierra Leone, population 7.8 million, only one functioning freezer can offer storage at that temperature. It’s housed in a complex at the Ministry of Health’s medical warehouse compound in the capital Freetown. It’s only slightly larger than a residential fridge, and it’s already being used to store an Ebola vaccine which requires similar temperatures.