Swiss Army Pharmacy Implements GDP-Compliant Temperature Monitoring for COVID-19 Vaccines

In the first half of 2020, the Swiss army pharmacy, as part of the Swiss army's logistics base, faced an enormous challenge: on behalf of the Federal Office of Public Health, they were tasked with implementing a seamless supply of vaccines to the Swiss population during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Political pressure was high, as was the fear of supply bottlenecks and of a possible loss of valuable vaccine doses due to the strict requirements concerning the storage and transport conditions.

Balancing the aims of the stakeholders - the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), vaccine manufacturers, quality assurance, the cantons and the Principality of Liechtenstein, and the Swiss population - Reto Spinnler, validation officer of the Army Pharmacy and responsible for the project, set out to find a GDP-compliant monitoring solution.

In this case study, you will learn how the Swiss army pharmacy:

• implemented a GDP-compliant temperature monitoring solution for dry ice shipments and frozen goods in less than four weeks;
• thus enabled the smooth supply of nearly 9 million vaccine doses to the Swiss population to date; and
• benefited from ELPRO’s decades of industry experience in this high-priority project of the Swiss government.