Toyota Motor Corporation has announced that the company along with Toyota Tsusho Corporation and B Medical Systems introduced a dedicated refrigerator vehicle for transporting vaccines around the world. The company also received a Performance, Quality and Safety (PQS) prequalification for quality of medical devices and equipment from the World Health Organisation, becoming the first vehicle in the world to have obtained the PQS prequalification from WHO.
PQS stands for Performance, Quality and Safety and is a system of prequalification for medical equipment set by WHO (World Health Organisation) to establish and develop medical equipment with high-quality standards as well as for applications in the United Nations’ procurement department. The equipment that meets PQS prequalification also meets standards set by leading NGOs and charity organizations. This ensures the effective use of vaccines and makes it easier for developing countries to develop medical equipment without having to have their own prequalification protocols. The PQS Prequalified equipment is able to transport and distribute vaccines for COVID-19 fairly to developing countries.
Toyota is using the Land Cruiser 78 as the base vehicle and features the B Medical Systems’ ‘CF850 vaccine refrigerator’. The refrigerator has a storage capacity of 396 litres and will be able to safely carry around 400 vaccine packages. The specially made Toyota Land Cruiser 78 features an independent battery for the refrigerator that can operate the system for 16 hours without external power. This will allow the vaccine to safely reach even the remotest corners of the world. The vehicle is also able to charge the refrigerator battery while the vehicle is moving as well as from an external power source when parked.
In India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) announced that the company will cover the COVID-19 vaccination cost for its employees, their family members and contract employees. Under the initiative, TKM will reimburse the expenses for both the doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for approximately 25,000 personnel in India.