Pfizer says new data shows its vaccine can be safely stored at higher temperatures
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Pfizer recently announced that they are seeking permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow their coronavirus (COVID19) vaccine to be stored at temperatures commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers and refrigerators, according to a press release from the company.
The FDA currently states that the vaccine, which was made in partnership with Biotech, needs to be stored at temperatures between 112 and -76 degrees Fahrenheit.
The new data collected by Pfizer concludes that their vaccine can be stored at -13 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit for up to two weeks.
Pfizer explained that this data was collected over the past nine months of COVID19 vaccine development.
“We have been continuously performing stability studies to support the production of the vaccine at commercial scale, with the goal of making the vaccine as accessible as possible for healthcare providers and people across the U.S. and around the world,” said Albert Bourla, chairman and CEO of Pfizer. “If approved, this new storage option would offer pharmacies and vaccination centers greater flexibility in how they manage their vaccine supply.”
In New York City, the need to have specific freezers for the vaccine may be a contributing factor to continued shortages.
The Advance/silive.com previously reported on the city’s over-reliance on the Moderna vaccine.
All city vaccination sites - those run by the city Department of Health (DOH) and New York City Health + Hospitals -- administer the Moderna vaccine, according to the city’s COVID-19 Vaccine
Finder website, with far fewer administering Pfizer.
The Moderna vaccine does not require the ultracold storage freezer, which costs upwards of $20,000, that is currently needed to store the Pfizer vaccine.
Sites that are not equipped with the freezer rely on Moderna, and are therefore impacted when there is a shortage of that particular vaccine.
Earlier this month, two Staten Island sites were expected to receive new ultrafreezers to store the Pfizer vaccine.