Live Breaking News & Updates on Geoff Swift

Stay updated with breaking news from Geoff swift. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.

Maine colleges lend critical research freezers as state mobilizes for historic vaccine rollout


Maine colleges lend critical research freezers as state mobilizes for historic vaccine rollout
UNE, SMCC, Bates and Colby lend ultra-cold freezers needed to store the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer.
Karen Houseknecht opened the email and read what could have been a line from a spy novel.
The state of Maine needed help from the University of New England and the matter had to be kept strictly confidential.
It was Tuesday, Nov. 17, and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention needed an untold number of ultra-cold freezers by that Friday. An initial shipment of COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer was expected to be delivered to Maine the following Monday and it had to be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit). ....

United States , New Hampshire , Maine Medical Center , Southern Maine Community College , Central Maine Medical Center , Colby College , Bates College , University Of New England , South Portland , Alex Azar , Chellie Pingree , Susan Collins , Angus King , Vahid Rohani , Bruce Campbell , Karen Houseknecht , Elizabeth Ehrenfeld , Nirav Shah , Brett Huggett , Robert Long , Mary Regional Medical Center , Maine Center , Unity College , Bioscience Association Of Maine On Nov , Maine National Guard , School Of Pharmacy ,

Bates loans pivotal COVID-19 storage freezers to local hospitals


Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
Published on December 17, 2020
On a Monday in early November, Associate Professor of Biology Brett Huggett was listening in on the state’s daily COVID-19 briefing, when a term used by Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, caught his attention: ultra-cold storage. 
That day, Nov. 9, Pfizer had just announced extremely positive findings from its early analysis of its coronavirus vaccine. And already, Shah was planning, in what Mainers had come to know as his cautiously optimistic way, to be ready if the vaccine was authorized for use.
“As you note,” Shah said to one reporter during the briefing. “It does require ultra-cold storage.” Minus 80 degrees Celsius, to be precise, or minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit.  ....

Central Maine Medical Center , United States , University Of New England , University Of Maine , Southern Maine Community College , Nancy Koven , Vahid Rohani , Sonya Locke , Bretta Huggett , Bruce Campbell , Jonathan Witt , Andree Kehn Sun , Don Dearborn , Nirav Shah , Brett Huggett , Gemma Dunn , Carnegie Science Hall At Bates College On , Human Services , Mary Regional Medical Center , Drug Administration , Maine Center , Mary Regional Medical Center On Dec , Unity College , Maine Department Of Health , Theophil Syslo Bates College , Associate Professor ,