Mongolia’s central vaccine storage facility in Ulaanbaatar did not have the capacity or capability to accommodate incoming Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines, some of which required storage at very cold temperatures, and other future routine vaccine storage demands. The government turned necessity into an opportunity to upgrade the country’s vaccine cold chain infrastructure with a new, reliable, energy-efficient, solar-ready, earthquake resistant, state-of-the-art central vaccine storage facility with four times the capacity.
The facility was financed by the World Bank through the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Project, with Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) providing in-kind technical expertise working with UNICEF as the implementing agency.
The new central vaccine storage facility, designed and subsequently constructed in just over three months, was inaugurated in August 2021 by Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene. It is poised to make a real difference for the health and well-being of the Mongolian people during the COVID-19 crisis, and beyond, and ensures reliable and safe storage for life-saving vaccines, while limiting greenhouse gases and local air pollution as well as lowering operating expenditures.