Washington:
The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine can be stored at refrigerator temperatures for up to a month in the United States, the country’s overall health regulator announced Wednesday, in a transform anticipated to aid distribution of the shot.
The US Food and Drug Administration stated it had made the selection “based on a review of recent data submitted by Pfizer,” and will let vials of the vaccine to be stored at refrigerator temperatures of 2-8 degrees Celsius (35-46 degrees Fahrenheit) for up to one month.
The vials have been previously only permitted to be kept at such temperatures for 5 days.
“This change should make this vaccine more widely available to the American public by facilitating the ability of vaccine providers, such as community doctors’ offices, to receive, store and administer the vaccine,” stated Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
The European Medicines Agency on Monday also authorized the storage of the Pfizer vaccine in fridges for up to a month.
The FDA had currently relaxed situations for the vaccine’s storage in February, enabling it to be kept “at conventional temperatures commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers for a period of up to two weeks” rather than ultra-low freezer temperature of -80 to -60 degrees Celsius.
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