In a clinic, vaccines, medicines and samples usually share one fridge that is opened all day. CDC's vaccine storage toolkit (July 2026) keeps vaccines at 2-8 °C in the middle of the unit; the door shelves, the vegetable drawer and the space under the cold-air vent are where temperature swings most. Food and drink never go in with vaccines, and a bar-style fridge is not used because it can freeze them.
Other medicines go into separate labelled boxes, and blood or urine samples sit in closed containers on a shelf below the vaccines.
Records
The probe of an independent recorder sits in the centre of the fridge among the vaccines. The minimum and maximum are written on the log at the start of every workday, and CDC recommends keeping logs for three years. After an excursion the stock is set aside and marked do not use, and the time and readings are noted.
In Türkiye vaccines carry a second record in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's vaccine tracking system (ATS): the clinic books veterinary biological products into stock and writes them off with an administration record when used. If the lot numbers on the fridge log match the ATS entries, the doses affected by an excursion can be found at once.
