Panasonic has received a deluge of requests from European and US logistics companies to trial an ultra-cold freezer box it has developed for the transportation of Covid-19 vaccines, the Japanese group said.

The Tesla supplier’s entry into the race to develop products for the fast-growing global vaccine storage business comes as the Japanese government prepares to roll out its Covid-19 inoculation programme from late February. Public criticism is mounting in Japan over the slow pace of the scheme.

“There is a serious shortage of freezer boxes even as the vaccine rollout has started globally,” Shinya Kojima, chief engineer at Panasonic’s appliance unit, said in an interview. “We’ve already received so many inquiries from all over the world including Japan, the US, Singapore, France, South Korea and China.”