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E005: Coolant Packs

E005: Coolant Packs

This section covers coolant-packs which are used as the temperature control medium in the insulated containers described in Section E004. A coolant pack is a purpose designed, leak-proof container filled with coolant. The term coolant-pack’ recognizes the potential for use with phase- change materials other than water. See section E005.2.

Details regarding the products included in each sub-category of E005, as well as guidelines, performance specifications and verification protocols for this category, can be accessed through the drop-down sections below.

The coolant-packs listed in the E005 product data sheets are all suitable for use in the transport of vaccines. PQS allows three standard sizes of coolant-pack: 0.3 litre, 0.4 litre and 0.6 litre. Coolant packs may be used as conventional frozen or conditioned icepacks or as cool and/or warm-packs in cold climates.

Make sure coolant-pack sizes are suitable for the cold boxes or vaccine carriers they are intended to be used with. DO NOT purchase pre-filled coolant-packs, because they could be filled with a substance that is not WHO-prequalified. Additional guidelines on how to use passive containers and coolant-packs for vaccine transport and outreach operations can be found in the WHO Vaccine Management Handbook.

WHO will continue to review the use of non-water coolant-packs that change phase at a temperature other than 0°C ("phase-change material"). At the current time, the safety, simplicity and low transport costs associated with water-based products which are filled in-country are considered to outweigh the possible performance benefits of phase-change materials.