It may not be available to everyone … Pfizer vaccine must be stored at minus 70 degrees!

Cold storage requirements for the first successful trial of a potential coronavirus vaccine raise questions about who might get it, if it’s approved, and when.

And US magazine “Time” cites experts that Pfizer’s vaccine may not be available to everyone, at least not immediately. Large medical centers are likely to have the resources needed for ultra-cold storage.

But people who don’t have access to these facilities, such as those living in rural areas, nursing homes, and developing countries, may have to wait for more vaccines to be developed.

The Pfizer vaccine must be kept at 70 degrees below zero and cannot be heated more than four times during its journey from the place of manufacture to the people who will receive it.

The Pfizer vaccine, which has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration but is said to be 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 disease, uses a genetic material called mRNA. And if not stored at extremely low temperatures, this substance can decompose, rendering the vaccine useless.

If the Pfizer vaccine is kept at minus 70 degrees, it can last up to six months. But many hospitals, community doctors’ offices, and pharmacies don’t have refrigerators, the lowest price is $ 10,000, and they’re expensive to run due to their high energy consumption.

It is not possible to modify the current refrigerants to reach the temperatures required to preserve the vaccine, says Paula Cannon, professor of microbiology at the University of Southern California, adding: “It would be like going from a Fiat to a Tundra truck.”

Dr. William Moss, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, says there may also be a shortage of the type of pharmaceutical glass needed to make vials that can withstand low temperatures.

And the New York-based Corning Glass Company won a $ 204 million government grant last June so it could increase production of its glass, made without the chemical element boron.

Distribution of the vaccine will also be difficult, as it must remain frozen during shipment. But Pfizer has built a storage container that, with the help of dry ice, can keep cold doses for up to 10 days during transport, without any additional freezing equipment.

Regularly filling the containers with dry ice can ensure that the doses are stored for another 15 days, but it also depends on how often the containers are opened and how long they have been opened.