The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and German-based BioNTech can be stored much longer at temperatures higher than previously recommended.
The U.S. federal government’s drug regulatory agency said Wednesday (May 19) the two-shot vaccine can be stored in a standard refrigerator between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius for up to a month after its been thawed, as opposed to the previous limit of just five days.
The FDA had mandated the Pfizer vaccine be stored in ultra-cold temperatures up to minus 80 degrees Celsius when it approved emergency use authorization in December.
Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said the revised recommendations will make the 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.”
The European Union’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, issued a similar recommendation earlier this week.
In related news, Dr. Anthony Fauci says people who have already been vaccinated against COVID-19 may need a booster shot within a year after their final shot. The head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday the booster may be needed because the initial inoculation is “generally not lifelong.” (VOA) -jlo
