COVID-19 Vaccines: Why Temperature Limitations Affect Equity and Social Justice
In many poor and remote areas, there is no infrastructure to store vaccines at cold temperatures. Jan. 5, 2021
By Timothy Ford, Professor and Chair of Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, and Charles M. Schweik, Professor of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst
To mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities.
There are few places in the US that are unreachable by road, but other factors many rural hospitals can’t afford ultralow-temperature freezers or might not have reliable electricity, for example present challenges. However, with government will and resources, these could be overcome.