Chapman’s Ice Cream in Markdale, Ont., has ordered two ultra-low temperature freezers and is ready to help with COVID-19 vaccine storage in Ontario’s Grey Bruce region as the province continues to battle the second wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Chapman’s vice-president Ashley Chapman said his company started to mobilize after hearing that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine needed to be stored at -70 C.
“We kind of just jumped all over it and decided we’re going to try and find some of these freezers for the area,” he told Global News Thursday.
“We went out and we found two of these Cryofridge units and we bought them and have been talking with our local health unit about the possibility of us helping, not just on the Pfizer vaccine with the low-temperature freezers that we purchased … but also (with) the Moderna vaccine or any other vaccine.”
Chapman said the other vaccines seem to be kept at the “perfect ice cream temperature,” which means the company can use its regular freezers and ice cream trucks to help with vaccine storage.
He said he also estimates both ultra-low temperature freezers to be able to store a combined total of anywhere between 100,000 to 120,000 vaccine doses at any given time.
“We really bought them for our region, but if any other region was desperate to find one of these units, we would definitely give them one of the units,” Chapman said.
“We bought two so we could keep one with vaccines and keep the other one empty and running, just because these vaccines are in such short supply over the next few months that we have to treat them like they’re worth more than gold.”
Chapman said it’s unclear to what capacity his company will be helping with the vaccine rollout.
“We did submit a proposal,” he added. “We think we’ve really got all the building blocks for a very successful pilot of how to vaccinate in rural Ontario.”
Chapman said his company has been part of the region’s pandemic response for about 30 years. He said his company signs documents every few years that allow for supplies to be stored in Chapman’s Ice Cream’s freezers as needed during a public health emergency.
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“That’s one of the things you volunteer for and hopefully you’re never called upon, but here we are,” he added.
Chapman hopes to receive the ultra-low temperature freezers by Monday or Tuesday.
The region under the Grey Bruce Health Unit is currently under Ontario’s COVID-19 yellow-protect level.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there are 33 active novel coronavirus cases in the region. There have been 413 confirmed COVID-19 cases to date and no deaths.
The first person to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Canada got it earlier this week.
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