Last year saw many of us around the world adapting to a new normal. The coronavirus pandemic upended life for billions, forcing people, companies, and governments to find new ways of doing typical tasks. Vaccines are reaching arms, but vaccinating the entire world will be no easy task. That's where Toyota's latest creation comes into play to help. The automaker produced a special Land Cruiser 78 with refrigeration capabilities.
Toyota worked in partnership with Toyota Tsusho Corporation and B Medical Systems on the unique SUV, which Toyota provided. It's a commercial version of the Land Cruiser 70, and the refrigeration system will help it deliver vaccines to remotes parts of the world. The special Land Cruiser has also obtained a pre-qualification for the World Health Organization's Performance, Quality, and Safety standards. This benchmark allows governments and organizations to identify quality medical products quickly. This is especially important in developing countries that lack their own standards.
The Land Cruiser comes equipped with B Medical Systems' CF850 vaccine refrigerator that can swallow 400 vaccine packages in its 396-liters of storage capacity. The refrigerator also comes with its own independent battery supply that allows for up to 16 hours of operation with power, a key feature to keeping vaccines cold during transportation. The vehicle can charge the fridge while driving or charge it from an external power source when it's parked.
Toyota notes that approximately 20 percent of vaccines supplied to develop countries are disposed of because of the lack of proper continuous refrigeration. These places often lack adequate road infrastructures with few means to refrigerate the doses. It’ll be months before a sizable portion of the world’s population receives the coronavirus vaccine. However, vehicles like Toyota’s helpful Land Cruiser 78 should help speed up the process while continuing to deliver other vaccines afterward.
