Drugs: Storage

(asked on 9th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many refrigerators for the storage of pharmaceutical products the Government has access to.


Answered by
Edward Argar Portrait
Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 23rd November 2020

It is not possible to quantify the total volume of refrigerated space for the storage of medicines that the Government has access to as some of its stockpiles are held by suppliers and wholesalers on its behalf.

The Government holds stockpiles of a range of different medicines, including crucial medicines used to treat COVID-19 patients, vaccines, and the Essential Medicines Buffer Stock, to help ensure there is uninterrupted supply over the coming months. Some of those stockpiled products are held by Public Health England (PHE), and also by suppliers, in refrigerated storage.

PHE currently has access to around 6,000 chill (2-8 degrees Celsius) storage pallet spaces. This will be increasing in 2021 in line with anticipated storage requirements.

PHE has also secured 58 ultra-low temperature freezers which provide sufficient storage for approximately five million doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines which require ultra-low temperature storage.

As part of our end of European Union Exit Transition Period contingency plans we have requested suppliers to stockpile to a target level of six week’s total stock on United Kingdom soil by 31 December 2020, where possible. Supplier stockpiles, which continue to be built, will also make use of refrigerated storage.

Reticulating Splines