Mumbai, Jan 5 (PTI) Transport temperature control solutions provider Thermo King on Tuesday launched its expanded portfolio of cold chain solutions in the domestic market, ahead of the expected roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccines.

The company's advanced cold chain technologies will help address challenges of COVID-19 vaccine distribution in India, whose large population is spread across vast and varied geographies, from densely populated cities to far-flung rural communities, Thermo King said in a release.

Thermo King is part of the New York Stock Exchange-listed diversified manufacturing company Trane Technologies.

According to the release, Thermo King products are being used by companies such as FedEx and UPS, which are directly involved in the transport and distribution of the Pfizer vaccine in the US.

COVID-19 vaccine distribution is expected to start in India in the coming weeks, following the central government's announcement of guidelines for states and Union territories for distribution of vaccines once they become available, the company said.

The first approved COVID-19 vaccines must be kept at deep-frozen temperatures down to (-)70 degrees Celsius, and will be shipped in dry ice, it said.

A container using dry ice may require re-icing if it sits for an extended length of time, such as during a long haul or on the airport tarmac, or if the contents are exposed to ambient temperatures during transfers, according to Thermo King.

Thermo King's refrigerated solutions, which can keep vaccines at temperatures from a range of (+)25 degrees Celsius to as low as (-)70 degrees Celsius, can extend the life of dry ice or even eliminate the need for it, the company said.

Allen Ge, president of Trane Technologies in Asia Pacific, said, "Safety and reliability of the cold chain is critical to meeting the urgent need for everyone to have access to vaccines. Our recently launched SuperFreezers were initially developed to flash-freeze high-end seafood."

As more COVID-19 vaccines are approved, they will have different temperature requirements with some needing low temperatures, while others will require typical refrigerated conditions, the company said.

Thermo King added that it is prepared to meet all these requirements with technologies to maintain and monitor temperatures across climate conditions, temperature needs, and modes of transportation, including air and marine.

Kishor Patil, leader at Trane Technologies HVAC & Transport, India & SAARC Country, said, "We are actively engaging with third-party logistics companies, policymakers, regulators and other industry partners to find ways to strengthen the vaccine cold chain."

He added that the company will use its global expertise to address the complexities and challenges of getting these life-saving vaccines to people across India, as we are doing in other regions around the world.

Thermo King works with a global network of nearly 900 dealers and partners, and around 60 dealers and partners in India to ensure end-to-end temperature control solutions for food, medicines, vaccines and other perishable cargo.

Along with super freezers, its portfolio includes air, marine and road transport solutions, containers and portable cubes that can easily be scaled and repositioned to different locations as demand changes, according to the release.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)