Making Vaccine Vials

To the average person, glass may not seem like the best choice of material. But according to Jane Cook, a materials scientist who helped develop Valor Glass, it’s one of the best containers for liquids like vaccines. Scientific equipment such as flasks and beakers have been made out of glass since the late 19th century. This type of glass, called borosilicate, is strong and heat resistant because it has the element boron for added strength. But when shaping this type of glass into vials, some of these atoms can boil away. These sections of the glass are weaker and can break when filled, when jostled together on an assembly line, or while in transit. This can also create microscopic flakes of glass that could contaminate the vaccine inside.

To the average person, glass may not seem like a good material to choose. But it’s one of the best containers for liquids like vaccines, says Jane Cook. She’s a materials scientist who helped develop Valor Glass. Since the late 19th century, scientific equipment has been made out of glass. The type of glass used to make beakers and flasks is called borosilicate glass. It is strong and heat resistant because the element boron is mixed into it. But when shaping this type of glass into vials, some of the atoms of boron can boil away. These sections of the glass are weaker. That makes them more likely to break when filled, when jostled together on an assembly line, or while in transit. This can also create microscopic flakes of glass that could contaminate the vaccine inside.

The Covid-19 vaccines had even more extreme requirements for their vials. The Pfizer vaccine must be stored at a teeth-chatteringly cold -76° Fahrenheit. It then needs to be warmed to room temperature before being administered to patients.

Researchers at Corning started work on Valor Glass in 2011. They replaced boron with aluminum and treated the finished vials with molten salt. “It gives an armor coating to the surface of the glass,” says Cook, “which makes the surface tougher and less likely to break.” The result is a type of glass 10 times stronger than normal—perfect for protecting Covid-19 vaccines!

The Covid-19 vaccines had extreme requirements for their vials. The Pfizer vaccine must be stored at -76° Fahrenheit! It then needs to be warmed to room temperature before being given to patients.

Researchers at Corning started work on Valor Glass in 2011. They replaced boron with aluminum. Then they treated the finished vials with molten salt. “It gives an armor coating to the surface of the glass,” says Cook. “This makes the surface tougher and less likely to break.” The result is a type of glass 10 times stronger than normal. It’s perfect for protecting Covid-19 vaccines!