Tinytag Data Loggers Sustain Vital Temperature Monitoring for Vaccines and Medications

Tinytag temperature data loggers are being utilised for the monitoring of vaccines and medications through the pharmaceutical cold chain.

Temperature monitoring is necessary to ensure that pharmaceuticals stored in medical fridges, freezers, storerooms and distribution vehicles are kept at the correct temperature. Pharmaceuticals must be stored at the appropriate temperature range to guarantee their safety and effectiveness.

The ‘Specials’ manufacturer of bespoke medicines for the NHS in-house, Tayside Pharmaceuticals uses Tinytag data loggers to assist in ensuring that vaccines and medications are stored under the right temperature conditions in all areas including fridges, freezers and storerooms so that they retain their full effectiveness by the time they reach the end-user. Monitoring is carried out through the entire cold chain, from dispatch to the dispensing pharmacy. Tayside Pharmaceuticals has responsibility for the environmental monitoring of cleanrooms and drug storage within their company premises and also of all pharmacy departments of NHS Tayside.

There are a total of 81 Tinytag Ultra 2 temperature data loggers on the job and 29 of them are dedicated full-time to monitor specific storerooms, pantries, and clinical trial materials. The rest are used according to a monthly schedule for monitoring different on- and off-site locations. These include a variety of medical storage rooms and cupboards, pharmacy dispensaries, fridges, freezers, media incubators, laboratory drying ovens and pharmacy dispensing robots. Additionally, these sites are monitored with data loggers on an ad-hoc basis in case of an abnormal temperature event occurring.

The data is utilised to assess the temperature range over an area for a period of time, most commonly a week, with a specific focus on any hot or cold spots, and to confirm overall that these areas comply with the limits placed on the specific storage for the monitoring period. If a controllable store is determined to be outside of the set limits, the stock inside has to be scrapped, the store repaired or condemned, and new stock sourced and stored in an alternate controlled temperature environment.

David Hall, Quality Assurance Technician at Tayside Pharmaceuticals, believes the most important benefit of using Tinytags is the functionality of the Tinytag Explorer software, which is simple to use, but comprehensive enough to show the data fully in an accessible format.

David commented:

“The battery life of the Tinytag loggers is very useful, especially for longer term projects such as cold-chain mapping. We are exceedingly happy with the results and accuracy of these loggers, and their download speed makes results obtainable quickly.”