Here in the United States, the power of vaccinations can clearly be seen. After all, diseases like polio and smallpox, which once lead to death and disability among many, have not been a real threat for very many years now. This is thanks to the widespread usage of vaccinations, as now more than 90% of all toddlers who fall between the ages of 19 months and 35 months have received their polio vaccinations. Without these vaccinations, unfortunately, polio would likely be the threat that it once was, the threat that it still poses in many of the less developed countries throughout the world.

The same can be said for measles. Though measles has not been fully and completely eradicated here in the United States in the same way that polio and smallpox have been, its overall rates of incidence have dropped considerably and so, subsequently, have the death rates associated with it. In fact, the less than 14 year time span between the year of 2000 and the relatively recent year of 2014 saw measles deaths drop here in the United States by more than three quarters, a total of 79%. This mean that, by the year of 2014, there were considerably less than 200,000 measles related deaths per each and every year, a considerable drop in comparison to the more than half of a million measles deaths back in the year of 2000.

And vaccinations are ideal on a yearly basis as well, at least when it comes to the flu shot. The flu shot can be gotten by anyone who is over the age of six months, though babies under two years might need to get it in two separate installments. At the current date, the flu shot is recommended for just about every person who is of the age to get one, as the consequences of the flu can be far more severe than many people realize.

Unfortunately, many people think of the flu as a minor inconvenience, really nothing more than a minor ailment akin to the common cold, of which there are as many as one billion cases of each and every year here in the United States alone. Unfortunately, this is far from the case, and the flu can prove to be deadly all too easily – especially for those who are very young, those who are very old, and those who have a compromised immune system. For far too many people, the flu ends up being a killer, with data showing that more than 55,000 have died of the flu over the course of the last eight or so year, with more than 700,000 additional people being hospitalized for it as well.

But many people don’t get the flu vaccine because they think it isn’t worth it, as the flu vaccine is never 100% effective. However, having a vaccination that is only partly effective is certainly better than getting no protection at all. And it has even been found that getting the flu vaccine will lower your risk of developing severe complications even if you do still get the flu at some point during the flu season.

But in order for vaccines to be effective, they must be stored properly, such as in a lab freezer or a lab refrigerator. The lab freezer is common and can be found in many places. In fact, the typical lab freezer has even been used in many a pharmacy throughout the country, in the form of a pharmaceutical freezer. When you store vaccines in a lab freezer, they will ideally not exceed a temperature of 5 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the lab freezer should also not dip below -58 degrees Fahrenheit either.

Aside from the lab freezer, vaccines of varying natures can also be kept in your typical biomedical refrigerator. In order for this to be successful, however, the vaccine refrigerator in question must be kept at around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, no colder and no warmer. Regular checks of both the average lab freezer and vaccine refrigerator can help to make sure that both are working.