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Mount Allison offered use of the freezers to the province after a researcher suggested that the university might be able to spare one or two. \u201cI totally agreed,\u201d says Cockshutt, \u201cthat with some careful planning and working together, we could do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vice President Robert Inglis got involved, and on December 23rd, the province expressed interest in taking up the school on their offer. The plan came together over the Christmas break, says Cockshutt.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a group that went in on the 23rd,\u201d says Cockshutt, \u201cand consolidated a couple of freezers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got rid of a few samples that were a little past their best before date, that we no longer needed. We\u2019d already published the work and the students had finished those projects.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mount Allison owns a total of seven minus-80 freezers, says Cockshutt, and researchers were able to consolidate storage of samples into five units, freeing up two for COVID-19 vaccine storage.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople came in at various times over the break to do some work on their freezer samples and to move things from one building to another, from one freezer to another,\u201d says Cockshutt. The moves and consolidation have to be done quickly and with iceboxes, she says, \u201cbecause these things can\u2019t warm up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Minus-80 freezers are often used in lab work, says Cockshutt. \u201cWe use them all the time in the life sciences in particular, to store samples that have things like DNA and RNA and protein in them, that are going to degrade if they\u2019re kept at a higher temperature.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe normal freezer on your fridge is about minus-20 degrees Celsius,\u201d says Cockshutt. \u201cAnd these are minus-80 Celsius. So they\u2019re very cold. You\u2019d burn yourself if you try to touch a piece of metal at that temperature.\u201d<\/p>\n
Special gloves are required to handle items in the freezers, says Cockshutt.<\/p>\n
ARE<\/strong>\u00a0ULTRA-LOW TEMP FREEZERS THE NEW TOILET PAPER<\/strong>?<\/p>\nNormally, ultra-low temperature freezers are not that difficult to get, says Cockshutt. They cost between $10,000 and $20,000, which she says is, \u201cnot a high end piece.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut of course, every country in the world needs some right now,\u201d says Cockshutt, which is creating a scarcity.<\/p>\n
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine requires storage at ultra-low temperatures. \u201cIt\u2019s the part of the delivery protocols,\u201d says Cockshutt. \u201cThey must stay frozen, below minus-60 or minus-70, until they\u2019re injected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNormally, it\u2019s not that big a deal to get one, but right now you can\u2019t get one for love nor money,\u201d says Cockshutt.<\/p>\n
Mount Allison has committed to do without its usual supply of ultra-low temperature storage space until the vaccine rollout is complete.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve talked about September of 2021 as the return date,\u201d says Cockshutt. \u201cBut that will depend on the vaccine rollout. If it goes faster, and they\u2019re done with it, they\u2019ll return it as soon as they\u2019re done. And if it takes a little longer, we understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Brunswick Public Health did not respond to an enquiry about where the freezers would be used.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n