Aquarium lends ‘ultra-cold freezer’ to California hospital to store COVID vaccine

The first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines to a California county are being kept in an unexpected place: an aquarium’s freezer.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is lending its “ultra-cold freezer” to Natividad Medical Center, according to a news release.

The hospital is one of three in Monterey County to receive the Pfizer vaccine, which must be stored in extremely cold temperatures. Freezers that are necessary to store the Pfizer vaccine can cost between $5,000 and $15,000, according to the medical center.

Natividad purchased a freezer with donor support, and workers were still waiting for it to arrive before the vaccines did.

Luckily, the aquarium helped out by loaning its extra freezer that met the specifications necessary to store the Pfizer vaccine. The aquarium has a second freezer to meet its needs.

“We planned to hold the vaccine on dry ice, but that would have been a lot of extra work,” Natividad Assistant Administrator Andrea Rosenberg said in the news release. “We are very grateful to the Aquarium for our collaboration.”

The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine was authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use in the U.S. in early December, McClatchy News reported. It’s the first COVID-19 vaccine to be recommended for emergency use.

At Natividad Medical Center, the first doses of the vaccine arrived Dec. 17 and will be given to health care workers first, according to the hospital.

“We’re glad the Aquarium can help in an unexpected way to control COVID-19 in Monterey County,” Aquarium veterinarian Mike Murray said in the release. “Ultra-cold freezers are in high demand across the country. We’re honored to provide this freezer to the hospital while waiting to take delivery on its own. It’s the perfect place to store the Pfizer vaccine.”