27 September 2021, Tehran – The WHO country office in the Islamic Republic of Iran has supported maintenance of the vaccine cold chain in the country by equipping the existing cold rooms with 16 00 electronic temperature loggers.

These temperature loggers, procured through funds from the State of Kuwait, were delivered to the Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

To officially hand over the procured devices, the WHO Representative and Head of Mission to the Islamic Republic of Iran Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain visited the Yakhchiabad Health Commodities Warehouse affiliated to the health ministry on Tuesday 27 September. During this visit, Dr Mohsen Zahrayi, Head of the Immunization and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Office of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, described the conditions of the storage and its recent expansion to receive different types of COVID-19 vaccines. He underlined the readiness of 2 other storage facilities in Tehran to stock vaccines.

The procured temperature loggers can record the temperature for up to 30 days, which is displayed on the attached LCD panels and can be easily monitored by the cold chain staff. This will also help computer analysis of the data at district or national levels to ensure proper temperature is maintained for quality assurance of different vaccines.

“A number of universities of medical sciences have facilities that support ultra-low temperature storages, and if vaccines requiring such low temperatures arrive in Islamic Republic of Iran in batches of one million doses, they can be swiftly distributed in the original packaging and utilized at vaccination centres in due time,” said Dr Zahrayi.

He also pointed to the Effective Vaccine Management Assessment facilitated by WHO early in 2020 with Dr Hussain. Based on this assessment, a cold chain improvement plan was developed according to which the newly donated equipment will be distributed across the country. The meeting also allowed for conferring about other equipment needed in the country, including a variety of refrigerators and fridge-vehicles for safe transportation of vaccines to remote areas in the country.

Dr Jaffar Hussain concluded the meeting by emphasizing WHO’s readiness to technically support immunization programme in Islamic Republic of Iran and the willingness to further invest in upgrading the national cold chain system pending available financial support from donors.

 

WHO Representative in Islamic Republic of Iran Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain (left) and Head of the Immunization and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Office of the Centre for Disease Control Dr Mohsen Zahrayi label the procured electronic temperature loggers at the Ministry of Health and Medical Education’s storage facility. Photo: WHO