Storing Pfizer vaccine at extremely low temperatures can be an obstacle

Preparatory work for the distribution of the experimental vaccine against Covid-19 developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is already beginning to be done. However, its necessary storage at minus 70 degrees is expected to hinder its storage and subsequent application.

Despite the fact that the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the German biotech company BioNTech announced on Monday that the vaccine they developed shows preliminary positive results, 90% efficacy in preventing the novel coronavirus, this is not expected to reach community pharmacies anytime soon. for the general public.

With the final test results for a large group of people to be able to make it to the end of this month, Pfizer and BioNTech still need regulatory approval before starting to distribute the vaccine, which should first reach priority groups defined by the government of each country. However, the complex requirements for storing this vaccine at extremely low temperatures are an obstacle to even the most sophisticated hospitals in rich countriesand further difficulties are expected in rural areas and poor countries, where resources are scarce.

The main problem is that this vaccine, which is based on a new technology that uses synthetic mRNA to activate the immune system against the virus, must be kept at Minus 70 degrees Celsius or less. “The cold chain will be one of the most challenging aspects of this vaccine distribution,” Amesh Adalja, an academic at the Johns Hopkins Center for Safety in Health, told Reuters. “It will be a challenge in all environments, because hospitals, even in large cities, do not have facilities for storing a vaccine at this extremely low temperature,” he explains.

One of the most prestigious hospitals in the United States, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said it does not currently have this capability. “We are talking about a vaccine that needs to be stored at minus 70 or 80 degrees. This is a huge logistical problem, not only in the United States, but also outside the Western world,” says Gregory Poland, virologist and vaccine researcher at Mayo Clinic. “We are a referral medical center and we have no storage capacity for this. It will be a reality for everyone. This is a logistical obstacle”, He adds.

Some states in the United States have said they do not have ultra-cold refrigerators, according to public documents registered with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

It lasts up to five days between 2 and 8 degrees

Pfizer spokesperson Kim Bencker said the company is working closely with the US government and state authorities on how to send the vaccine from its distribution centers in the US, Germany and Germany. From Belgium to the rest of the world. The plan calls for the use of dry ice to transport frozen vaccine bottles at recommended temperatures, by air or by land, for up to 10 days, he explains.

National health services and local operators will be responsible for storing and administering the vaccines once delivered. They can be stored in a very low temperature refrigerator for up to six months. Or even just five days, between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius – a common type of refrigeration in hospitals – which deteriorates later, according to Kim Bencker. BioNTech chief executive Ugur Sahin told Reuters that the companies are considering extending that deadline to two weeks.

Moderna’s vaccine, based on similar technology, does not need to be stored at such a low temperature. Other investigational vaccines, including those from Johnson & Johnson and Novavax, can also be stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius, the temperature of a normal refrigerator.