Vaccines are the most temperature sensitive products in healthcare. They need to stay within a safe range for their vials to be effective. A few minutes outside their safe range and an entire vaccine batch can lose its potency. This can happen and the vaccine might be looking completely fine from the outside. This makes vaccine cold chain monitoring an important part of cold chain logistics.
Lisaline Asia is a leading supplier, distributor and provider of cold chain monitoring solutions in India. Since 1998, we have been working with hospitals, healthcare facilities, pharma distributors, and cold chain logistics teams who move these life saving vaccines everyday. We led the innovation in vaccine cold chain monitoring with the development of the world’s first miniaturised Vaccine Vial Monitor (VVMs), for vial monitoring of polio vaccines used in the Polio Eradication Program in India.
In this blog, we cover what vaccine cold chain monitoring really is, why it matters for cold chain, medical facilities and patients and how the data loggers supplied by Lisaline Asia are leading the vaccine cold chain monitoring in India. We also help you with choosing the right data logger for your vaccine cold chain monitoring applications specially designed whether for storage or transit monitoring. Lastly, for pharmaceutical, healthcare facilities, hospitals and vaccine distribution centers, we cover the best practices for maintaining the integrity in vaccine cold chain monitoring.
What is Vaccine Cold Chain Monitoring?
Vaccine cold chain monitoring is the continuous process of tracking the environmental conditions of vaccines and their vials during storage and transit from the point they are manufactured till the point they are administered to the final consumers. This is done to ensure the vaccines remain within the safe temperature and sometimes humidity ranges so that their potency is not affected during any stage of the vaccine distribution journey.
Most vaccines need to stay between +2°C and +8°C. Some, like certain mRNA vaccines, need much colder conditions. Vaccine cold chain monitoring involves solutions like data loggers that give a complete time stamped record of the environmental conditions the vaccines faced during each point in the journey from manufacturing plant to storage facility and finally to patient administration. However, vaccine cold chain monitoring is not limited to data loggers.
Lisaline Asia also supplies temperature indicators which are self adhesive labels directly applied to the vials, packages or vaccines which provide a clear visual irreversible signal with a colour change if the vaccine is exposed to temperature outside the safe temperature ranges. This provides a clear sign of exposure at the point of delivery so the teams can clearly identify if the vaccines have been affected even if they might appear completely fine from the outside.
Why does Vaccine Cold Chain Monitoring matter for healthcare facilities, vaccine distribution centers and patients?
Vaccines need utmost care during storage, transport and distribution. Just a mere deviation for a few minutes and the entire batch of valuable life saving costly vaccines can lose their potency and be harmful for patient use. Therefore, vaccine cold chain monitoring is important for healthcare facilities, vaccine distribution centers to make sure that the vaccines they will provide to final customers are safe for use or have been affected.
Prevent Wastage
Vaccine cold chain monitoring provides a continuous tracking of temperature and humidity(sometimes) conditions surrounding vaccines and their vials. With on device alarm status, real time alerts, logistics teams can proactively act when the vaccines go out of safe temperature ranges and prevent excursions. This prevents wastage and saves costly life saving vaccine batches from being lost to permanent temperature exposure.
Patient Safety
Vaccine cold chain monitoring saves patients from being provided with affected harmful vaccines. Vaccines are meant to prevent diseases and if the vaccine itself is affected, it can be harmful to the consumer. Therefore vaccine cold chain monitoring ensures patient safety by regularly monitoring the vaccine vials and providing signals if the vaccine is affected so that it can be discarded and not administered to the patient.
Supports Compliance
Vaccine cold chain monitoring allows facilities to comply with several medical and pharmaceutical standards and guidelines. Regulatory bodies and procurement agencies expect documented proof that vaccines were stored and transported correctly. This includes alignment with WHO PQS standards, GDP guidelines, and in many cases 21 CFR Part 11 requirements for electronic records.
Vaccine Cold Chain Monitoring Devices – Data Loggers and Temperature Indicators
Vaccine cold chain monitoring can be done with data loggers, which can be kept along with vaccine batches during storage and transit and provide a time stamped record of the environmental conditions the vaccines were exposed to. The data loggers also offer on device alerts that alert the logistics teams beforehand when temperature conditions go out of safe range. This helps them to take proactive action and prevent permanent damage through excursions. Some specific models, which support network connectivity also allow real time alerts through SMS and email often through app and web based platforms.
Apart from data loggers, temperature indicators are an easy way to monitor every vaccine or vial during storage or transport. Although they do not provide a time stamped record, they provide a clear visual signal of temperature exposure. These self adhesive labels can be applied directly to vials and change colour irreversibly when the temperature goes out of the safe range and either exceed or fall beyond safe ranges. Even if the product returns to normal later the label colour doesn’t change. This provides a clear sign whether the vaccines are safe or compromised at point of delivery.
Which data loggers does Lisaline Asia offer for Vaccine Cold Chain Monitoring during storage and transit?
Lisaline Asia offers data loggers for vaccine cold chain monitoring during storage and transit. From real time monitoring data loggers to data loggers with a display and USB port ideal for monitoring when connectivity isn’t available, we at Lisaline Asia have it all. Here’s our product range of data loggers application specific for vaccine cold storage monitoring and shipment monitoring.
Vaccine Storage Monitoring
Data Loggers such as the Cobalt X and Xs support storage monitoring of vaccines.
Cobalt X
Cobalt X is a fixed storage data logger mounted within or outside cold rooms. It supports upto 4 wired/wireless sensors simultaneously. Wired sensors can reach inside cold rooms and vaccine storage facilities. The Cobalt X supports both LoRaWAN long range data transmission and Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity, and it can further send data to a LoRaWAN gateway which pushes it to the OCEAView cloud platform. Here you can view the live readings as they happen, get real time alerts when conditions go beyond the safe limits through email, SMS, web based platform or app.
The Cobalt X measures temperature, humidity, light, dry contact, CO2 and differential pressure supporting external sensors, and it also works as the base station that pairs with Emerald and Atlas Bluetooth loggers for a complete vaccine storage monitoring setup.
Visit our product page of the Cobalt X wireless data logger by Dickson for detailed specifications and more details. Contact our team for enquiries regarding the Cobalt X data logger.
Cobalt Xs
The Cobalt Xs is a wireless data logger that monitors both temperature and humidity. It is also a fixed storage mounted data logger mounted within or outside cold rooms. It supports upto two sensors simultaneously. Apart from LoRaWAN long range data transmission, a dedicated Wi-Fi variant of the Cobalt Xs data logger supports Wi-Fi connectivity sending data to the OCEAView cloud platform through the facility’s wi-fi networks, which is a useful option for vaccine storage sites that already have reliable network infrastructure in place. You can view live readings as they are recorded, get real time alerts when conditions go beyond the safe limits through email, SMS, web based platform or app.
Visit our product page of the Cobalt Xs wireless data logger by Dickson for detailed specifications and more details. Contact our team for enquiries regarding the Cobalt Xs data logger.
Vaccine Cold Chain Monitoring During Shipment and Transit
Lisaline offers a range of data loggers designed for monitoring of vaccines during their period in transit. These data loggers include:
Tempmate GS2 and GM2
The Tempmate GS2 is a single use data logger with GSM and 4G LTE connectivity. It has an inbuilt SIM and allows global connectivity. This means that the data logger can send data to the cloud platform and the readings can be viewed from anywhere in the world irrespective of which corner of the world you live or where your shipment is. This gives a real time idea of the shipment to the people concerned. When the conditions go beyond the safe limits, the platform triggers alerts through SMS or email ensuring proactive action.
These GSM data loggers also features an LCD display showing current status at a glance and an in-built USB interface for monitoring when network connection or range isn’t available. You can plug in the data logger to a laptop or computer post shipment, or even mid shipment for a compliance check, to get all the shipment data timestamped and ready to view along with audit ready PDF/CSV reports. The Tempmate GM2 with the same features is a rechargeable multi use data logger suitable for recurring shipments, with a memory capacity of up to 50,000 readings. Both of these data loggers measure temperature, humidity, shock, tilt and light.
Visit our product page of the Tempmate GS2 and GM2 GSM data logger models by Tempmate for detailed specifications. Contact our team for enquiries regarding these 4G data loggers.
Tempmate S2, M1 and M2
These are shipment data logger models with display and USB plug and play design. While Tempmate S2 is single use and monitors both temperature and humidity with a memory capacity of up to 32,000 readings, Tempmate M1 is multi use but monitors only temperature and Tempmate M2 monitors both temperature and humidity being multi use data logger with a massive internal memory of 60,000 readings. Tempmate S2 also features a light sensor only for monitoring package opening detection.
All these data loggers feature an LCD display which provides logistics teams with the current status at a glance and alarm status. The display also helps teams know whether the vaccines inside are safe or have been exposed to a temperature excursion. Further a USB plug and play design allows an easy data retrieval and reporting, you get a time stamped data of the readings along with automatic generation of audit ready PDF/CSV reports. Without any network or need to login to any cloud platform, you can view the readings.
Visit our product page of the Tempmate S2, M1 and M2 models by Tempmate for detailed specifications. Contact our team for enquiries regarding these shipment data loggers.
Degrite S
Degrite S is our in house manufactured USB data logger, designed in Germany and proudly made in India by Lisaline. It is a single use, disposable data logger that monitors temperature only with a single internal sensor, which makes it a straightforward and cost effective choice for vaccine shipments where real time tracking isn’t required and a simple, reliable temperature record is enough.
Like our USB shipment loggers, it follows a plug and play design. Once the shipment reaches its destination, you simply connect it to a USB port and it automatically generates timestamped, audit ready PDF and CSV reports, with validation certificates accessible from its built in memory or online. Being a Lisaline in house product also means faster availability and dedicated support for our vaccine cold chain customers in India.
Contact our team for enquiries regarding the Degrite S data logger.
Emerald and Atlas
The Emerald and Atlas are Bluetooth data loggers which can be used for both storage and shipment monitoring. In storage monitoring they can be used as a standalone data logger or separately as a wireless sensor along with Cobalt X. These can be used as shipment data loggers too as they are compact enough to fit into packages. Both come with an on board memory capacity of up to 16,000 readings and a battery life of up to a year, and their readings can be accessed straight from a smartphone or tablet over Bluetooth without needing to open the sealed package.
Emerald focuses on temperature monitoring and carries NF EN 12830 certification, while Atlas adds humidity and light sensors on top of temperature, which is useful for tracking package opening events during transit.
Zebra ZS300
The Zebra ZS300 is another Bluetooth data logger option for vaccine cold chain monitoring, useful for both storage and shipment applications. It is built tough with an IP67 rated housing, so it holds up well in vaccine cold rooms as well as rough handling during transit, and it covers a wide temperature range with high accuracy, so it works reliably whether you are monitoring a cold room or a deep freeze shipment.
The Zebra ZS300 is a reusable device with a battery life of up to a year, and readings can be accessed easily over Bluetooth from a smartphone or tablet without needing to open the sealed package. For larger installations, ZS300 sensors can also sync automatically with Zebra’s cloud platform for continuous visibility and real time alerts. Contact our team for enquiries regarding the Zebra ZS300 data logger.
Which temperature indicators does Lisaline Asia offer for vaccine cold chain monitoring?
Temperature indicators are self adhesive labels often TransTracker cards or Vaccine Vial Monitors (VVMs) and temperature indicator labels supplied by Zebra Technologies which can be directly applied to vaccine vials to ascertain the temperature conditions of individual units.
TransTracker is a single use card that is placed inside secondary packaging or shipping boxes rather than on the vial itself, and it houses one or more HEATmarker, LIMITmarker or FREEZEmarker indicators depending on whether you need to track heat exposure, freeze exposure, or both together on a single card, along with an interpretation key so the reading is easy to understand at the point of delivery.
A Vaccine Vial Monitor, on the other hand, is affixed directly onto the vaccine vial by the manufacturer, so it travels with the vaccine and experiences the exact same conditions as the vaccine itself throughout its life, right up until administration. VVMs have been recommended by WHO and UNICEF since 1996, and in 2012 WHO made VVMs a critical characteristic, a mandatory requirement for all vaccines procured through UNICEF tenders. This is what allows a health worker at the last mile, even with no data logger or cloud access in sight, to look at the vial and know instantly whether the vaccine is still safe to use.
These are the temperature indicators supplied by Lisaline Asia:
HEATmarker
HEATmarker is a self adhesive time temperature indicator label that monitors the cumulative heat exposure a vaccine unit receives over time. It works through an inner square set inside an outer reference ring. The inner square starts off lighter than the outer ring and gradually darkens as heat exposure accumulates, with the rate of colour change speeding up at higher temperatures and slowing down at lower ones. The endpoint is reached once the inner square becomes the same colour as, or darker than, the outer reference ring, at which point the vaccine is considered fully compromised and exposed to heat beyond its safe limits and it no longer can be used further.
Since the shade changes gradually rather than all at once, health workers can also use the label to prioritise vaccines that have had more heat exposure over those that haven’t, instead of just discarding stock outright. These labels do not return to their original shade even after the product cools down, the change is irreversible. Z
ebra also makes a HEATmarker VVM+ variant, built specifically for heat stable vaccines, which combines the usual cumulative heat tracking with peak temperature indication, so it catches a vaccine that has been briefly exposed to a sharp temperature spike even if the cumulative exposure is still within limits.
LIMITmarker
LIMITmarker is a self adhesive heat indicator label that monitors sudden spikes in heat or temperature rather than cumulative exposure. If the temperature increases suddenly and goes beyond the safe limits, the LIMITmarker label changes colour either instantly or with a delay, depending on which of the two variations is used.
LIMITmarker I is the quick indication variation, reaching its endpoint within seconds to 15 minutes of exposure, and its colour change runs from grey to black, with the endpoint reached once the centre circle matches or turns darker than the outer circle.
LIMITmarker F is the delayed indication variation, taking anywhere from 15 minutes up to 2 hours to reach its endpoint, and its colour change runs from white to pink or red instead. Which variation to use depends on how quickly you need a heat excursion to be flagged, quick indication for short, sharp exposures during handling and transfers, and delayed indication where you want to allow for very brief, harmless temperature blips without triggering a false alarm. This is different from the HEATmarker. While HEATmarker measures the cumulative heat exposure, LIMITmarker measures sudden spikes in heat.
FREEZEmarker
For vaccines to remain under safe conditions and to maintain their potency, they are kept under controlled cooling/freezing conditions. However, the risk arises that if the temperatures fall beyond a certain threshold then the vaccine vials might freeze or thaw, affecting their potency for use. FREEZEmarker are freeze indicator labels that measure whether the vaccines remain under the safe conditions and their temperatures do not fall beyond their safe limits.
Under normal conditions, the label displays a clearly visible green circle with a white checkmark inside it. If the vaccine is exposed to a freeze event at or below the response temperature, the green circle turns partially or completely white, obscuring the checkmark, and this colour change shows up within about 30 minutes of the freeze event occurring. Once the checkmark is obscured, the change is irreversible, so even if the vaccine warms back up afterwards, the label continues to show that a damaging freeze event took place.
For vaccine cold chain monitoring, temperature indicators or data loggers?
Whether you should choose temperature indicators or data loggers depends on your requirement. Whether you want a time stamped proof and record of the conditions your entire batch of vaccines were exposed to during every stage of their supply chain journey from storage, transit to final consumption, you should choose data loggers.
Data loggers monitor the environmental conditions like temperature and humidity, store the readings either in the internal memory or on a cloud platform if network connectivity is supported. These provide real time alerts often through SMS or email or on device(if offline) and alert the logistics teams of conditions going out of safe parameters. With proactive action, temperature excursions can be minimised. The data loggers also allow automatic generation of audit ready time stamped PDF/CSV reports. These reports help in compliance during audits and adherence to several standards.
However, you should choose temperature indicators when you want a clear sign during the point of delivery and you want to monitor each individual unit. You cannot set up a data logger unit to monitor each vaccine vial and hence in this case temperature indicators prove useful. With just an irreversible colour change, temperature indicators inform logistics teams whether their products are safe or have been exposed to unsafe temperatures.
Most vaccine companies and pharmaceutical units use both temperature indicators and data loggers for vaccine cold chain monitoring. While data loggers provide a time stamped record, temperature indicators provide a clear visual sign that is easy to identify.
Cold Chain Boxes: Keeping Vaccines Safe During Transit
Data loggers and temperature indicators tell you if your vaccines went out of the safe range. But keeping them from going out of range in the first place comes down to the box they’re travelling in. Lisaline Asia also supplies Hemokool cold chain boxes, both active and passive, to maintain temperature control during vaccine transport and temporary storage.
Hemokool Active Cooling Boxes use a powered DC compressor with electronic controls, so the box actively regulates its own temperature instead of depending on ice packs, which makes them suitable for long distance vaccine shipments where consistent, uninterrupted cooling matters most. Hemokool Passive Cooling Boxes, on the other hand, are non powered and rely on pre frozen gel packs for cooling, making them a practical, low cost option for shorter transit runs.
Visit our product pages for Hemokool Active Cooling Boxes and Hemokool Passive Cooling Boxes for detailed specifications. Contact our team for enquiries regarding the right cold chain box for your vaccine transport needs.
How to choose the right data logger for your vaccine cold chain monitoring?
Choosing the right data logger for your vaccine cold chain monitoring depends on which stage of your vaccine supply chain journey do you want the data logger to monitor.
For vaccine storage in cold rooms and vaccine refrigerators, you want a fixed, continuous monitoring setup rather than a device that has to be manually checked. This is where Cobalt X and Cobalt Xs work well, since they stay mounted in place and push readings to the OCEAView cloud platform around the clock, so your team gets alerted the moment a refrigerator or cold room goes out of range instead of finding out during the next physical check.
For vaccine shipments in transit, the choice comes down to how much real time visibility you need. If your team needs to know the shipment’s condition while it is still on the road, whether that’s for a high value consignment or a shipment travelling through areas with unreliable cold chain infrastructure, the Tempmate GS2 or GM2 with their GSM and 4G LTE connectivity give live alerts throughout the journey.
If real time visibility isn’t a requirement and a complete post shipment record is enough, the Tempmate S2, M1 or M2 offer the same accuracy without the need for network connectivity, and the Emerald and Atlas Bluetooth loggers are a good fit for smaller packages that still need a proper timestamped record.
You should also consider whether the shipment is single leg or recurring. Single use loggers like the GS2, S2 and Degrite S work well for one way movements, while multi use loggers like the GM2, M1, M2, Emerald and Atlas are more cost effective for routes you run again and again.
Why Choose Lisaline Asia for your Vaccine cold chain monitoring solutions?
Since 1998, Lisaline Asia has been leading the cold chain monitoring sector in India. We led the innovation in vaccine cold chain monitoring with the development of the first miniaturised Vaccine Vial Monitors for vials in India’s campaign for the eradication of polio. We are the leading suppliers of leading cold chain monitoring companies like Zebra Technologies, Dickson, Tempmate, etc. We also manufacture our in house Degrite S data logger designed in Germany and proudly made in India.
We are not just a cold chain monitoring supplier, we are a partner in your cold chain monitoring journey. We don’t just provide data loggers and temperature indicators for your vaccine cold chain monitoring but also provide complete end to end support in your operations.
We offer complete installation, commissioning, setup and configuration of the data logger systems we provide along with integration and setup of the cloud platforms. We also provide calibration from our in house ISO/IEC 17025, NABL accredited facility, so every calibration certificate we issue is backed by an internationally recognised standard. Apart from that we offer IQ/OQ validation, thermal mapping, PQS testing according to WHO guidelines, 24/7 online support, after sales support under annual maintenance contracts.
As an official supplier we offer authentic licensed products, with proper labelling, direct manufacturer support and warranty and official documentation. This ensures quality products and assistance during audits. It protects you from fake and counterfeit products in the data logger market.
Contact our team at Lisaline for more details or discuss your requirements. We help you in choosing the right product for your vaccine cold chain monitoring.
Conclusion
Vaccine cold chain monitoring is not something that can be left to chance or to manual checks alone. A single unnoticed excursion can compromise an entire batch of vaccines without any visible sign, which is why the right combination of data loggers and temperature indicators, matched to the right stage of storage or transit, makes all the difference.
At Lisaline Asia, we bring together products from trusted names like Dickson, Tempmate and Zebra Technologies, along with our own in house Degrite S data logger, to give hospitals, pharma distributors and logistics teams a complete vaccine cold chain monitoring solution. From helping you choose between a storage logger and a transit logger, to installation, calibration and ongoing support, we are with you at every step. Get in touch with our team to discuss your vaccine cold chain monitoring requirements.
