The transport and storage of vaccine doses create a real logistical headache.
At the time when vaccination began in France, Europe 1 went to the Lille University Hospital where a "super-freezer" was installed to store 300,000 doses, at - 80 degrees Celsius.
REPORTAGE
The first vaccines against the coronavirus were sent to France on Saturday by refrigerated trucks.
One of the big difficulties is being able to keep the doses at a temperature below -80 degrees.
Once on site, they will have to be stored in huge freezers.
What do these "super freezers" look like?
Europe 1 went to Lille University Hospital to find out.
>> LIVE
- Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Sunday, November 27
The "super freezer" does not have extraordinary dimensions.
It is almost the same size as your refrigerator, about two meters high.
The first difference with a conventional device is that it has two doors, a very thick first and then a thinner one, to keep the vaccine at - 80 degrees Celsius.
"You should know that these freezers increase their temperature very quickly if there is the slightest problem," said Pascal Odou, head of the Lille Institute of Pharmacy, at the microphone of Europe 1. "All the logistics that the we set up is to have a 24-hour surveillance on the temperature. "
A secret place
The "super freezer" can store up to 300,000 doses that must be handled with secure equipment: "We will have gloves and goggles that will prevent the cold from coming into too much contact with the skin and burning. nobody. Because at - 80 degrees Celsius, you start to have burns if you have pieces of ice falling. "
>> Find the morning show of the day in replay and podcast here
In addition, there is no question of revealing the location of this "super freezer", it is obviously a question of safety.
"The room is completely closed and intended for only a few people", says Pascal Odou.
Six other hospitals in the region will stock these vaccines but in smaller quantities, around 100,000 doses.