Challenges in vaccine rollout linked to cooling

Insufficient cold chain logistics and unreliable electricity access are estimated to leave approximately 2.7 billion people without dependable vaccine access. In Sub-Saharan Africa, a significant portion of health facilities lack reliable power, undermining healthcare quality and vaccine efficacy. To mitigate these gaps, organizations like Gavi and UNICEF are deploying solar-powered refrigeration, while the World Bank provides financing for health system strengthening and cold chain equipment.

• Logistics and supply chain limitations related to cold chains mean that approximately 2.7 billion people lack dependable access to vaccines, even when considering conventional storage temperatures of 2°C to 8°C.
• Vaccine distribution is marked by significant inequalities between rich and poor nations; it is forecasted that 85 poor countries, including most African nations except Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Morocco, and South Africa, will not have widespread COVID-19 vaccine access before 2023.
• Electricity access in health facilities is unreliable or nonexistent in many regions. A 2013 World Bank survey of 730 facilities in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Myanmar, Nepal, and Niger found that about 25% lack a primary electricity source, and 25% of on-grid facilities experience outages that hinder health services.
• In Sub-Saharan Africa, energy gaps severely impact healthcare; a 2013 WHO-led review of 11 countries estimated that 25% of health facilities had no electricity, and only 28% of health facilities and 34% of hospitals had 'reliable' electricity.
• International efforts to bridge the cooling gap include Gavi's procurement of 65,000 off-grid-ready, solar direct-drive refrigerators for nearly 50 countries and UNICEF's purchase of 92,000 vaccine fridges (including 11,325 solar-powered units) to support COVAX.

APA

Sustainable Energy for All (n.d.). Challenges in vaccine rollout linked to cooling. https://www.seforall.org/node/1870/#13

Chicago

Sustainable Energy for All. Challenges in vaccine rollout linked to cooling. n.d. https://www.seforall.org/node/1870/#13.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Sustainable Energy for All |title=Challenges in vaccine rollout linked to cooling |url=https://www.seforall.org/node/1870/#13 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sustainableenergyforallndchallenges, author = {{Sustainable Energy for All}}, title = {{Challenges in vaccine rollout linked to cooling}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, url = {https://www.seforall.org/node/1870/#13}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }