The Fridge Magnate!

This South African man’s mini freezers are perfect for storing Covid-19 vaccines

- Roxanne Mooneys

Just call him the freezer guy. It may not be the most auspicious title you can think of but in this day and age, it’s about as complimentary as you can get.

Dave Berkowitz is at the forefront of technology that’s playing a vital role in the rollout of vaccines against the Covid-19 pandemic. And he’s South African to boot.

His company has designed and built a tiny freezer in which vaccines can be stored at temperatures as low as -80°C – perfect for the Pfizer vaccine, which needs to be stored at a temperature of between -70°C and -80°C.

Ultracold freezers aren’t new, but they’re mainly used in hospitals and laboratories – and a lot more will be needed to store the Pfizer jab now that it’s winging its way around the globe.

Hospital and laboratory freezers are typically the size of a household fridge with capacities of between 550 and 950 liters. But what makes Dave’s freezer exceptional is the fact it’s a fraction of the size – it has a 25-liter capacity, making it easy to transport across the world.