On a recent trip to the pediatrician, I saw some poorly trained (my opinion) semi-medical staff opening and closing the vaccine refrigerator which may have resulted in higher temperatures in the fridge.
My opinion aside, CDC publishes some strict guidelines on vaccine storage here Vaccines Storage and Handling Toolkit | CDC
Are there any scientific studies that measures actual compliance to the guidelines above ? If so, can you please point me to the same.
Refrigerators have to be opened and closed in order to both put things into them and get things out (obviously). The refrigerated items don’t change temperature significantly in that short time. Does your milk go bad when you use your refrigerator at home? Keep in mind that the vaccine is going to be at roughly room temperature by the time is is administered. It is still going to be effective. While some things are that sensitive to temperature change, vaccines are not very useful if that delicate.
The guidelines you linked to give a ideal range of 10 degrees Fahrenheit…
Not disputing anything you said. My question is simply on studies that have measured compliance rates to the CDC recommendations. Any studies you can point me to ?
This, and the references at the end, might be a start. I think it would require more time than I care to invest to find exactly what you are looking for.
Give me the name of the vaccine and I may have some luck.
Here is one from 2002.
This one (pdf) is a study of vulnerabilities in vaccine management for vaccines for children.
My wife, who has a book in vaccines out from ABC-Clio, found these by Googling for it on Google scholar. Not much shows up in normal Google.
BTW, the WHO has developed something (a circle in a square) that goes on the outside of vaccine packaging. If the circle turns black (it is white originally) the vaccine has been exposed to excessive heat. This was developed so that a problem with the storage of the vaccine could be detected without having to read.
Thank you Voyager - that’s what I was looking for.
Just perusing your link - it seems about 20% clinics were non-compliant!!!
Will read more
Just want to point out that that article is 15 years old; it’s informative, but a lot has changed in pediatrics since then; I wouldn’t assume that the numbers are still the same today.
As I said. The second article is more recent. Since most vaccines are given to children, it should be reasonably relevant.
Totally! (My eyes glossed over that one at the bottom of your post the first time).
But, I still think it’s a valid reminder that even an 8 year old study of business practices, while informative, is not necessarily an accurate representation of today, and so is of limited use.
I’m not trying to dismiss your cites, which are great resources, but just reminding the OP that these numbers may or may not represent current compliance.
Thanks Eonwe - point taken. In my experience, medical care (especially pediatric care) has gone downhill in the bigger cities with inexperienced nurses and population pressures.
With that in mind, would there be any reason to believe that the above cited figures would have gotten any better ?
I was actually a bit surprised there were that many easily found studies. I doubt things got much better within a few years, but I also doubt they got much worse. Most of the effort I’m aware of has been to improve the handling of vaccines in third world countries, where the infrastructure is lacking.
Here is an even older cite from 1993, which I didn’t include because of its age. Now you have three, you can draw a line. 
I haven’t looked at the cites to be honest. I trust the expert in my family for that.