Russia expects to produce primarily freeze-dried Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine doses by the spring, a top official said, eliminating the need for transport at ultra-low temperatures as part of an ambitious plan to inoculate its population.
Vaccine developers globally are scrambling to work out how to ship and store their vials, some of which must be kept in specialised freezers at extremely low temperatures.
The logistical challenge was brought into sharp focus after promising interim trial data for the vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer, a major breakthrough in the race to curb the pandemic.
This vaccine needs to be shipped and stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius, equivalent to an Antarctic winter, posing a challenge for even the most sophisticated hospitals in the United States.
It also puts it out of reach for the moment for many poor countries.
Transportation is a pressing issue for Russia, which has many extremely remote settlements and has already begun rolling out a programme of mass inoculation of frontline medical workers across the country, though human trials of Sputnik V are not yet complete.
Whether being trucked across Siberia or flown to the far reaches of the Arctic, its vials must be stored at minus 18 degrees Celsius or below, according to the Gamaleya Institute which developed the shot.
But Russia has also been testing a version that has undergone lyophilisation, turning the liquid vaccine into a dry, white mass that can be stored at normal fridge temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (35.6-46.4 F). It is then diluted before injection.
Russia has not previously disclosed how many doses of freeze-dried vaccine it is planning to produce. But Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is backing and marketing the vaccine, told Reuters it would soon be the main focus.