For over 200 years, vaccines have been saving lives all around the world, and a flu vaccine may fight of influenza while the Polio vaccine has practically eradicated that disease. Many different vaccines exist today, from flu vaccines to Fluria Seqirus to multi-dose vials. Often, it is the flu and related influenza that vaccines protect people from today, and a hospital can order flu vaccine shots in preparation for flu season. Vaccines for seniors can be very helpful as well, since disease can spread fast in densely populated senior retirement homes. Pre-filled syringes can be bought from wholesale retailers, and to order flu vaccine needles is to take responsibility for many people’s lives. A person may also order flu vaccine shots ahead of time to get fully inoculated. What is the history of vaccines? How can they be used today?
Vaccines Then and Now
Vaccines date back to 1796, when a certain Edward Jenner developed what he called the “arm to arm” inoculation method to prevent smallpox. He drew tissue samples from the blister of someone infected with cowpox, then injected this into the arm of another person. This helped build up immunity to smallpox and related contagions. Over time, vaccines become more refined and could be used against a wider variety of illnesses. By the 1940s, vaccines were being made in large-scale production for the first time, and they protected people from common illness at the time. Whooping cough, tetanus, and more were fought with these vaccines, and by the modern age, the list of diseases prevented with vaccines has grown even longer.
A hospital may order flu vaccine batches from pharmaceutical companies today, and when a hospital chooses to order flu vaccine sets during the influenza season, many people may arrive to get inoculated. Some hospitals and other health sites may offer whole days where staff are prepared to give injections to large numbers of people who arrive for their updated vaccines, both young and old. After all, nearly 200,000 Americans are hospitalized per year due to complications from having the flu, so getting oneself inoculated from influenza can make a big difference and even save a life. Children can get their vaccines at a young age, and this can help bolster their young and under-developed immune systems from the flu, measles, and more. Senior citizens also have weaker immune systems, and in the case of retirement homes, disease can spread fast among unprotected individuals. Nurses and other medical staff may arrive at a senior citizen to help give injections to everyone who wants them.
Care for Vaccines
Vaccines are fragile, and they are sensitive to temperature. For this reason, vaccines need to be stored in specially designed medical freezers or lab fridges to protect them. Not any ordinary cooling unit will do; commercial coolers and freezers are meant for ordinary food, and they have unacceptably wide temperature variance as their doors are opened and closed. Instead, a hospital staff or research lab staff can look online for a medical fridge or freezer unit to store their lab samples and vaccines as long as necessary.
The staff of a hospital or research lab should find the right model for the job. Some vaccines can be stored into regular fridges, while others need the lower temperatures found inside a freezer. For this reason, those on the market for cooling units must know what they are looking for, and factor in the size of the unit as well. If a purchased cooling unit is too large, it is a waste of money with the leftover room, and of course, a too-small unit can’t hold everything in it at once. Lighter units can be placed onto shelves or countertops at a hospital or a research lab, and larger units can be set on the floor wherever there is room for them. A large lab or hospital may even have multiple units in one room, all next to each other for vaccine storage. This might be necessary during flu season, for example, when many patients are looking for updated shots.
