Providers participating in any of California’s vaccine programs agree to store vaccines in refrigerators and freezers that meet VFC Program requirements.
Benefits
Locations might maintain an average vaccine inventory ranging from tens of thousands to more than $500,000 over the course of a year. Reliable storage units help protect your facility from the costs of revaccination, replacement of expensive vaccines and loss of patient confidence due to compromised vaccines.
Purchasing Considerations
Providers may purchase any vaccine storage units that meet VFC specifications. The California VFC Program does not endorse or recommend specific storage units. If you are unclear about VFC requirements, contact your Field Representative.
Types and Grades
Refrigerators and freezers are available in different types (stand-alone and combination) and grades (pharmaceutical, commercial and household). Not all are designed to maintain proper temperatures that protect vaccine viability.
Stand-alone: Self-contained units designed as refrigerator-only or freezer-only; range from compact, under-the-counter styles to large pharmaceutical-grade units.
Combination: Have both a refrigerator and a freezer with separate exterior doors.
Pharmaceutical: Purpose-built grades designed to maintain consistent temperatures for vaccines or biologics in pharmacy, biologics or laboratory settings.
Commercial: These grades (intended to store food and beverages in commercial settings) are often larger and more powerful than household units but are not designed to store biologics and experience some temperature fluctuations.
Household: These grades are intended for food storage in homes and offices.
VFC Specifications
Refrigerators
- Maintains consistent temperatures between 36.0ºF and 46.0ºF (2.0ºC and 8.0ºC)
- Compact units with 11 cu ft capacity or less must be pharmacy- or biologic-grade
- Stores all refrigerated vaccines + enough water bottles to stabilize temperatures
- Defrosts automatically
- Seals tightly and close properly
- Used primarily for vaccine storage (if necessary, medications or biologics not inoculated may be stored below vaccines)
Acceptable Refrigerators
When evaluating existing or shopping for new vaccine refrigerators, select the required grade and type by practice volume.
|
Grade (Type)
Rating
|
Description
|
Practice Volume
|
|
Pharmacy- or biologic-grade
Best
|
Purposely built to maintain consistent temperatures for storage of vaccines or biologics. Come in stand-alone and combination units.
|
Very high (required)
Others: Preferred
|
|
Compact pharmacy- or biologic-grade
(stand-alone)
Best
|
These under-the-counter units are suitable for smaller practices with limited space.
|
Low, Medium, High
|
|
Commercial units*
(stand-alone)
Good
|
Intended to store food and beverages in commercial settings. Are often larger and more powerful than household units but not designed to store biologics and experience some temperature fluctuations.
|
Low, Medium, High
|
|
Household* (stand-alone)
Discouraged
|
Intended for use in homes and offices, typically for food storage. Like commercial units, are not designed to store biologics and experience frequent temperature fluctuations.
|
Low, Medium, High
|
*These units may require additional water bottles to maintain stable temperatures. Contact your Field Representative for guidance.
Freezers
- Maintains consistent temperatures between -58.0°F and 5.0ºF (-50.0°C and -15.0ºC)
- Must use stand-alone units, or pharmacy- or biologic-grade combination units
- Stores all frozen vaccines + enough cold packs to stabilize temperatures
- Defrosts automatically (or manual with access to VFC-compliant freezer and data logger; temporary vaccine storage in coolers is unacceptable)
- Seals tightly and close properly
- Used only for vaccine storage
Acceptable Freezers
When evaluating existing or shopping for new vaccine freezers, select the required grade and type by practice volume.
|
Grade (Type) Rating
|
Description
|
Practice Volume
|
|
Pharmacy- or biologic-grade (stand-alone)
Good
|
Specifically designed to maintain consistent temperatures for storage of vaccines or biologics.
|
Any practice |
|
Pharmacy- or biologic-grade (combination)
Good
|
Have more than one compressor allowing for better and separate temperature control of the refrigerator and freezer compartments.
|
Any practice
|
|
Commercial units*
(stand-alone)
Good
|
Intended to store food and beverages in commercial settings. Are often larger and more powerful than household units but not designed to store biologics and experience some temperature fluctuations.
|
Any practice
|
|
Household* (stand-alone)
Good
|
Intended for use in homes and offices, typically for food storage. Like commercial units, are not designed to store biologics and experience frequent temperature fluctuations.
|
Any practice
|
*These units may require additional frozen cold packs to maintain stable temperatures. Contact your Field Representative for guidance.
Unacceptable Storage Units
|
Type
|
Comments
|
|
Compact household refrigerator
(stand-alone)
|
Small, under-the-counter stand-alone refrigerators with a capacity 11 cubic feet or less.
|
|
Household combination refrigerator/freezer
|
Have one compressor with poor temperature control. May pose a risk to refrigerated vaccines because cold air from freezer is vented into refrigerator and can freeze vaccines. Freezer portions of many combination units are not capable of maintaining consistent temperatures for frozen vaccines.
|
|
Dormitory-style and bar-style combined refrigerator/freezers
|
Have a single exterior door and evaporator plate/cooling coil, usually located in an icemaker/freezer compartment. Pose a significant risk of freezing—even when used for temporary storage.
|
|
Manual defrost refrigerators
|
Have an exposed vertical cooling (chilling) plate at back of refrigerator, which poses potential risk of significant temperature variation and freezing vaccines.
|
|
Convertible units
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Have internal switch that converts “all-refrigerator” unit to “all-freezer” unit.
|
|
Cryogenic freezers
|
Reach temperatures well below -58.0°F (-50.0°C), too cold for frozen vaccines.
|
Placement Considerations
Make sure storage units fit in a designated space
- with good air circulation,
- away from direct sunlight and any heat sources,
- within reach of an outlet (without an extension cord) that is not shared with other appliances or controlled by wall switch, and
- with at least 4 inches of space around top, bottom and sides.
If you are unclear about vaccine storage unit requirements, contact your Field Representative prior to making a purchase.
Configuring Storage Units
Storage units must be prepared to maintain stable temperatures and organized to reduce administration errors and vaccine exposure to room temperatures.
Routine Maintenance
Regular care helps ensure that storage units work properly. Clean routinely and defrost manual-defrost freezers if about 1″ of ice has built up. Refer to your vaccine management plan or VFC Provider Operations Manual (PDF) for guidance.
When to Replace Storage Units
Providers agree to replace storage units that do not meet VFC Program specifications or if storage incidents resulted in spoiled vaccines.
Additional Resources